Franco M. Muggia, MD, PhD, professor, Department of Medicine, NYU Langone Medical Center, discusses targeted therapies for patients with ovarian cancer.

The BRCA mutations occur in many of the patients with high-grade serous ovarian cancers, explains Muggia. For patients with low-grade serous disease, the major target is estrogen receptors—making anti-estrogen agents beneficial.

Though the drugs have been effective, researchers need to continue to increase the number of cures that are seen with this disease, states Muggia.

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Dr. Muggia on Targeted Therapies for Ovarian Cancer

Franco M. Muggia, MD, PhD, professor, Department of Medicine, NYU Langone Medical Center, discusses the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) 252 trial, which looked at the use of intravenous (IV) versus intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy in the treatment of patients with ovarian cancer.

According to Muggia, this topic is generally in a state of transition, as IP therapy for ovarian cancer has been standard since 2006. Unfortunately, he explains, it is associated with certain toxicities and a learning curve in terms of treatment delivery.

The GOG began to carry out pilot studies to see whether they could reduce the toxicity of this treatment while retaining the efficacy, which led to the development of the GOG 252 trial.

The results of the study matured enough for progression-free survival (PFS) in March 2016, says Muggia. The findings showed that there is no difference between an IV arm—the former modified standard treatment&mdash;with IP cisplatin and IP paclitaxel, and a new arm to reduce toxicity of IP carboplatin with IV paclitaxel. This trial led to the preliminary result that would indicate no actual difference between the 3 arms.

Franco M. Muggia, MD, PhD, professor, Department of Medicine, NYU Langone Medical Center, discusses the GOG 252 trial, which looked at the use of intravenous versus intraperitoneal chemotherapy in the treatment of patients with ovarian cancer.

Franco M. Muggia, MD, PhD

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Dr. Muggia on Targeted Therapies for Ovarian Cancer

Dr. Muggia on the GOG 252 Trial in Ovarian Cancer