New Name for Breast-Cancer Syndrome Could Help to Save Lives

July 3, 2019 6:00 pm

By Colin C. Pritchard

People of all sexes can have risk genes that are often assumed to affect only women. Renaming the syndrome should aid cancer prevention and treatment, argues Colin C. Pritchard.

I recently had a conversation with my … Read more

Trial Examines Tolerance of Maintenance Olaparib in Advanced Ovarian Cancer

June 12, 2019 5:00 pm

By Dave Levitan

An analysis of the phase III SOLO1 trial found no new safety signals when the PARP inhibitor olaparib was given as maintenance therapy for women with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer and a BRCA mutation. Nausea, fatigue, … Read more

SOLO3 Examines Benefit of Olaparib vs Chemo in Platinum-Sensitive Relapsed Ovarian Cancer

June 5, 2019 8:00 pm

By Leah Lawrence

Patients with BRCA-mutated, platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer derived significant clinical benefit from treatment with olaparib monotherapy compared with treatment of physician’s choice, according to the results of the SOLO3 trial, a US Food and Drug Administration … Read more

Chemo-Free Combo Boosts PFS in Recurrent Ovarian Cancer

June 4, 2019 6:00 pm

By Ian Ingram

Benefit seen across all subgroups for patients with platinum-sensitive disease.

Ovarian cancer patients with recurrent, platinum-sensitive disease experienced a longer interval without disease progression when bevacizumab (Avastin) was added to niraparib (Zejula), a phase II study found.… Read more

Epithelial Ovarian Cancer: BRCA Mutations, Brain Mets, and Breastfeeding

May 6, 2019 5:00 pm

By Kristin Jenkins

The presence of a BRCA germ line mutation in patients with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer may confer a short-term survival advantage, but is not associated with a reduction in long-term mortality, researchers found.

A follow-up study comparing … Read more

Niraparib Offers New Option in Heavily Pretreated Ovarian Cancer

April 17, 2019 7:00 pm

By Dave Levitan

Niraparib showed promising and clinically relevant activity as therapy for heavily pretreated patients with ovarian cancer, according to a new phase II study. This was particularly true among women with homologous recombination deficiency (HRD)-positive tumors.

“Although most … Read more

Ovarian Cancer Patients Undertested for Mutations that Could Guide Clinical Care

April 9, 2019 4:00 pm

By Krista Conger

A large study of women with breast and ovarian cancer has revealed significant gaps between national guidelines for genetic testing and actual testing practices, according to researchers from Stanford and five other institutions.

Fewer than a quarter … Read more

23andMe DTC Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risk Test Misses Almost 90 Percent of BRCA Mutation Carriers

April 5, 2019 5:00 pm

By Julia Karow

A study led by researchers at Invitae has found that 23andMe’s direct-to-consumer BRCA test, which tests for three common variants in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes and is authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration, misses … Read more

‘End of the Road’ for Trabectedin in Ovarian Cancer?

March 21, 2019 7:00 pm

By Ian Ingram

Trial stopped for futility, but 13-month OS improvement seen in patients with BRCA mutations.

Trabectedin (Yondelis) plus pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) failed to improve survival in a phase III trial of third-line ovarian cancer, but a survival … Read more

SGO 2019: Less Worry, More Symptoms and Regret With Risk-Reducing Salpingo-Oophorectomy

March 20, 2019 5:00 pm

By Christina Bennett, MS

Women at increased risk for hereditary ovarian cancer who underwent risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy experienced less worry but worse menopausal symptoms and more regret compared with those who underwent salpingectomy with delayed oophorectomy, the Women Choosing Surgical Prevention … Read more

When PARP Inhibitors Fail in Ovarian Cancer

March 18, 2019 6:00 pm

By Ian Ingram

Study identifies subgroup for whom another go could be worthwhile.

Lack of response to a PARP inhibitor in epithelial ovarian cancer didn’t necessarily mean patients were resistant to all such agents, a small retrospective study indicated.

Among … Read more

Only 18% of People With Breast and Ovarian Cancer Genes Knew They Were Carriers, Study Found. How Can We Make DNA Screening Work Better?

February 7, 2019 5:00 pm

By Michael Murray

There are diseases and health conditions that are essentially invisible to us until it is too late.

When those problems are life-threatening, such as cancer, and if there is a period when something could be done, then … Read more

Drug Target Identified for Chemotherapy-Resistant Ovarian, Breast Cancer

February 4, 2019 5:00 pm
By Tamara Bhandari Study finds mimic for BRCA genes that could be targeted to improve treatment People who inherit a faulty copy of the so-called “breast cancer genes” BRCA1 and BRCA2 are at high risk of cancer. About 10 percent… Read more

FDA Approves Lynparza for Maintenance Treatment of BRCA-Mutant Gynecologic Cancers

December 19, 2018 5:00 pm

By Brielle Benyon

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Lynparza (olaparib) for the maintenance treatment of adults with deleterious or suspected deleterious germline or somatic BRCA-mutated advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer who are in a

Read more

BRCA1 Methylation Level May Predict Which Ovarian Cancer Patients Respond to PARP Inhibitors

September 28, 2018 8:37 pm

The extent to which the BRCA1 promoter is methylated could signal an ovarian tumor’s susceptibility to PARP inhibitor treatment, a new study has found.

PARP inhibitor treatment has been effective in treating some patients with high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma with … Read more

Study Cracks Open the Secrets of the Cancer-Causing BRCA1 Gene

September 12, 2018 12:21 am

By Sharon Begley

Lawsuits didn’t do it, public shaming didn’t do it, patients and doctors banding together to “free the data” couldn’t do it: For 22 years Myriad Genetics, one of the oldest genetic testing companies, has refused to make … Read more

Study: Cancer-related genetic testing is rare for women on Medicare

August 20, 2018 6:28 pm

By Health Day News

Testing for gene mutations linked to breast and ovarian cancer is rare among some Medicare patients who have the cancers and qualify for such tests, a new study finds.

Researchers analyzed data from 12 southeastern states … Read more

Genetic Screening Can Inform Women of Their Breast and Ovarian Cancer Risks

July 6, 2018 7:21 pm

One of the most unsettling aspects of cancer is the unknown.

There is the unknown of what is in store for you if you receive a diagnosis of cancer. But on a larger scale, we all

Read more

Busting Myths Surrounding Cancer and Genetic Testing

April 18, 2018 12:02 am

While only 5 percent to 10 percent of cancers are caused by an inherited gene mutation, genetic testing may benefit people with a strong history of family cancer, an expert in genetics suggests.

This is especially true in families with … Read more

FDA Approves Rubraca for Maintenance Ovarian Cancer Treatment

April 6, 2018 8:05 pm

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Rubraca (rucaparib) as a maintenance therapy for women with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer who are in complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy, according to Clovis Oncology, the … Read more