The latest first-line treatment options for ovarian cancer: focus on maintenance therapy

Ovarian cancer is one of the leading causes of death from gynecologic cancers in Russia: in 2018, 7616 women died from this disease and the proportion of patients who is under observation for 5 years or more was only 3.4%, which probably indicates very low 5-year survival. At the same time, there was is a tremendous paradigm shift in the treatment of BRCA-associated ovarian cancer. A number of large phase III trials have been published on the use of PARP inhibitors in this subtype of the disease. Their results demonstrated a marked reduction in the risk of disease progression or death with PARP inhibitors after first-line therapy for advanced ovarian cancer. Here we present a comparative analysis of the efficacy of various PARP inhibitors in BRCA-associated ovarian cancer. The relative risk reduction in disease progression or death for olaparib, niraparib and veliparib was 70%, 60% and 56%, respectively and advantage of using these drugs noted in all patient subgroups. Comparative analysis of the safety of various PARP inhibitors was carried out as well, the risks of developing various toxicity were assessed. Based on a comparison of published data on their safety profile, it was concluded that olaparib is the safest drug of this class, especially in the context of therapy on an outpatient basis. Possible ways to optimize the use of PARP inhibitors in disseminated ovarian cancer have been analyzed.