Dr. Hays on Potential for PARP Inhibitor Combinations in Ovarian Cancer

John Hays, MD, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, and member of the Translational Therapeutics Program at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center—James, discusses the potential for PARP inhibitor combinations in patients with ovarian cancer.

There is a great desire, according to Hays, to combine PARP inhibitors with immunotherapy and chemotherapy due based on the mentality combining agents with proven efficacy might lead to even greater benefit for patients.

While combining these 3 approaches in ovarian cancer might yield exciting results, potential unexpected adverse events may also occur, warns Hays. Currently, the combinations being used in the treatment of patients with ovarian cancer have been fairly well tolerated, leaving investigators cautiously optimistic that they will continue to be as research in the field moves forward, says Hays.

Novel approaches are already being combined in ovarian cancer. For example, in the frontline setting, immunotherapy is being paired with PARP inhibitors or VEGF-targeting agents plus chemotherapy in an effort to increase overall response rates in patients, concludes Hays.