Gynecologic Cancers

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Analyses of clinical trials continue to illuminate the role of the PARP inhibitor olaparib (Lynparza) in the treatment of women with ovarian cancer, Ursula A. Matulonis, MD, explained during a plenary session at the 2015 Society of Gynecologic Oncology's Annual Meeting on Women's Cancer.

Treatment with bevacizumab (Avastin) plus chemotherapy resulted in a non-statistically significant improvement in overall survival (OS) of nearly 5 months compared with chemotherapy alone for women with platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer.

Recent advancements in the treatment of ovarian cancer, including surgical techniques, the approvals of bevacizumab and olaparib, and intraperitoneal chemotherapy (IP), have led the National Comprehensive Cancer Network to make changes to their clinical practice guidelines in its 20th annual edition.

As one of the most significant predictors of hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, the BRCA1/2 genes have become the poster child for genetic testing. In the past 18 months, the floodgates for testing options have opened, as companies seek to enter the diagnostic market in the wake of the US Supreme Court's June 2013 ruling that "naturally occurring" human genes are a "product of nature" and cannot be patented, breaking Myriad Genetics' monopoly on BRCA1/2 gene testing.

The FDA has approved the PARP inhibitor olaparib (Lynparza) for the treatment of women with BRCA-positive advanced ovarian cancer. The approval was based on results from a single-arm phase II study of patients with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline BRCA-mutated advanced cancers

The demand for genetic services has never been greater. Vast advances in genetic technology, Angelina Jolie's disclosure that she is a BRCA mutation carrier, and the Supreme Court ruling on gene patents have hurled genetic services into the mainstream. Since the Supreme Court ruling last year, the cost of germline (hereditary) genetic testing has plummeted and now includes panels of genes.

A randomized multi-center trial examining the efficacy of adding the prohormone dehydroepiandosterone (DHEA) to a vaginal bioadhesive moisturizer in postmenopausal survivors of breast or gynecologic cancer has found that daily rather than as-needed use of such a moisturizer significantly relieves symptoms of vaginal atrophy in these women, and that when DHEA is added, survivors report significant improvements in sexual desire, arousal, pain, and overall sexual function.

Do you know that ovarian cancer continues to be the deadliest of all gynecologic cancers? Do you know there is no test that detects ovarian cancer?