A Mayo Clinic research team has found evidence
suggesting that premenopausal women who are not at high risk of ovarian
cancer should not have their ovaries removed for the purpose of cancer
prevention.
Dee's Note: Removal of the ovaries should only be considered if you have a BRCA mutation. The side effects from ovary removal may lead to other health issues - cardiac, bone etc.
According to research published this month in
the New England Journal of Medicine, the PARP inhibitor niraparib
improves progression free survival in recurrent, platinum-sensitive
women both with and without germline BRCA mutations.
Dee's Note: This Parp inhibitor showed significant improved progression-free survival versus placebo for women with and without BRCA mutations or homologous recombination deficiency.
A new analysis published in the American Journal of
Obstetrics and Gynecology determined the impact of gynecologic surgeon
volumes on patient outcomes.
Dee's Note: Previous studies showed similar results. Low volume surgeon had higher mortality rates. Have your surgery done by a gynecologic oncologist who has completed many of these surgeries.
New OCRFA-funded research demonstrates how a drug
already in clinical trials could be used to boost anti-tumor immunity
and cause T-cells to target the cancer directly while minimizing side
effects.
Dee's Notes: PDL-1 and PD-1 work to prevent T-cells from fighting cancer cells. It was found that BET ( bromodomain and extraterminal domain)inhibitors can stop BRD4 (bromodomain-containing protein 4) which contributes to PDL-1 expression.
The European Society of Medical Oncology published a
study last week that indicated the reasons for a decrease in deaths
from ovarian cancer in both young women and post-menopausal women.
Dee's Notes: I am confused about how the deaths from ovarian cancer can decrease if the number of women diagnosed has stayed constant. Women diagnosed with ovarian cancer are no longer on oral contraceptives. Anyone have insight into this issue please leave a comment below.
While primary cytoreductive surgery followed by
chemotherapy is the standard of care for newly diagnosed women with
advanced ovarian cancer, newly issued practice guidelines suggest that
some patients may benefit more from first-line neoadjuvant
chemotherapy (NACT) and followed by surgery.
Dee's Notes: Newly diagnosed women with stage IIIC or IV epithelial ovarian cancer who may only achieve suboptimal debulking ( less than 1 cm) should receive chemotherapy first.
A study published recently in JAMA Oncology showed
that CA-125 tests and CT scans are routinely used in ovarian cancer
surveillance testing, even though evidence has shown there is no
clinical benefit to using these tests
Dee's Notes: This prospective study showed no benefit to using CA-125 / CT scans as surveillance for OC. "During a 12-month period, there was a mean of 4.6 CA-125 tests and 1.7 CT scans performed per patient"
Write up from Annie Ellis:
Research Round-Up: 11th Biennial Ovarian Cancer Research Symposium September 12-13, 2014 in Seattle, Washington
The Biennial Ovarian Cancer Research Symposium is
presented by the Rivkin Center for Ovarian Cancer and the American
Association for Cancer Research.
Dee's Note: Good Summary of presentations on OC screening, treatment, microenvironments and disease mechanisms. Dee
Every Day is a Blessing!
