Dr. O’Malley on the Utility of Chemoimmunotherapy in Ovarian Cancer

David M. O'Malley, MD, professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Ohio State University (OSU) College of Medicine, director, Division of Gynecologic Oncology and Clinical Research in Gynecologic Oncology, co-director, Gynecologic Oncology Phase I Program, The OSU Comprehensive Cancer Center–James, discusses the utility of chemoimmunotherapy in ovarian cancer.

The largest trial in ovarian cancer that evaluated a chemoimmunotherapeutic strategy wasthe phase 3 JAVELIN OVARIAN 100 trial (NCT02718417), O’Malley explains. The 3-arm study randomized patients with previously untreated epithelial ovarian cancer to receive chemotherapy with or without avelumab (Bavencio) followed by avelumab maintenance vs chemotherapy alone; however, the results of the study proved to be underwhelming, O’Malley says.

Moreover, the treatment arms behaved very similarly, and in the intent-to-treat population, patients who received chemotherapy alone had improved progression-free survival compared with those who received either of the avelumab-based regimens, O’Malley continues. A subgroup analysis revealed that patients with PD-L1–positive disease did not derive additional benefit from the immunotherapy-containing approaches compared with patients who were PD-L1 negative, O’Malley concludes.