Jasgit Sachdev, MD, clinical associate professor at Translational Genomics Research Institute, discusses the goals she would like to see achieved regarding the treatment of ovarian cancer.

In ovarian cancer it is important to work on sub-stratifying and sub-classifying tumors and determining biomarkers that can help predict which patients are going to benefit from which types of therapies, says Sachdev.

Whether it’s checkpoint inhibitors, PARP inhibitors, or antibody-drug conjugate compounds, being able to have validated biomarkers to preselect patients and understand what’s different at a biologic sublevel is critical, she adds.

The industry has reached a ceiling regarding what can be done with standard chemotherapy drugs, especially in the setting of platinum resistance. The way forward is to look at the more targeted delivery of chemotherapy, but also using chemotherapy in combination with other agents that can potentially bypass some of the resistance that is developing in ovarian cancer patients.  

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​Jasgit Sachdev, MD, clinical associate professor at Translational Genomics Research Institute, discusses the goals she would like to see achieved regarding the treatment of ovarian cancer.

Dr. Jasgit Sachdev on What's on the Horizon for Ovarian Cancer

Jasgit Sachdev, MD, clinical associate professor at Translational Genomics Research Institute, discusses a phase I study of PF-06647020, an antibody-drug conjugate targeting protein tyrosine kinase 7 (PTK7) in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.

The study was initially designed as a dose-escalation study for patients with all advanced solid tumors. A pre-planned expansion for ovarian cancer included 27 patients that received PF-06647020.

The study found that PF-06647020 was well tolerated, says Sachdev. The design of the agent is novel because the antibody-drug conjugate targets PTK7 on the surface of the cancer cells.

There was very encouraging activity in this heavily pre-treated group of patients, with a 27% response rate, says Sachdev.

Jasgit Sachdev, MD

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Dr. Jasgit Sachdev on What's on the Horizon for Ovarian Cancer

Dr. Jasgit Sachdev on Antibody-Drug Conjugate PF-06647020 in Ovarian Cancer