Dr. Markman on 2017 Goals for the Field of Ovarian Cancer

Maurie Markman, MD, president, Medicine and Science, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, editor-in-chief, OncologyLive, discusses what he would like to see accomplished in the field of ovarian cancer over the next year.

Markman hopes that there will be more biomarkers developed in the space of ovarian cancer. He also believes that it is a mistake to launch a number of the randomized phase III trials being initiated. Additionally, he adds, there does not seem to be enough information available, and the history of phase III trials have mostly been negative with response rates to agents, in the range of 10% to 15%.

Therefore, he says research efforts should be focused on identifying reasonable biomarkers. Once these are determined, it could lead to accelerated FDA approvals of novel agents. This will reduce the need for randomized phase III trials that can take anywhere from 3 to 5 years to complete, Markman concludes.