In The Know-December 2022

December 2022

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A recent study published in Gynecologic Oncology investigated the use of taxane maintenance chemotherapy in patients with advanced ovarian, peritoneal, or fallopian tube cancer. The study, called ATHENA–MONO/GOG-3020/ENGOT-ov45, compared the effects of taxane maintenance therapy with surveillance in patients who had achieved a clinical complete response after first-line platinum-taxane chemotherapy. The results showed that taxane maintenance therapy did not improve overall survival compared to surveillance. However, it did show a modest improvement in progression-free survival. The study also found that gastrointestinal and neurologic adverse events were more common in the taxane treatment arms.<br /><br />Another study published in the International Journal of Cancer focused on the impact of antibiotic therapy on the microbiome in patients with ovarian cancer. The study found that antibiotic treatment disrupted the gut microbiota, which increased tumor growth and suppressed sensitivity to cisplatin therapy. The study highlighted the importance of maintaining a healthy gut microbiome in patients with ovarian cancer to improve treatment outcomes.<br /><br />A randomized phase III trial called GOG-0218 was conducted to evaluate the use of bevacizumab as maintenance treatment in patients with newly diagnosed ovarian cancer. The study found that bevacizumab did not improve overall survival in the study population as a whole. However, subgroup analysis showed that patients with high-risk disease and poor tumor chemosensitivity (defined by a tumor-intrinsic chemosensitivity score) had improved progression-free survival and overall survival with bevacizumab.<br /><br />Other studies focused on topics such as the classification of endometrial carcinoma based on next-generation sequencing, the use of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in patients with hematologic or solid cancer and severe COVID-19, and the association between disruption of the gut microbiota and cisplatin resistance in epithelial ovarian cancer.<br /><br />These studies provide important insights into various aspects of gynecologic oncology, including treatment strategies, biomarkers, and the role of the microbiome in cancer development and treatment.

Keywords

taxane maintenance chemotherapy

clinical complete response

progression-free survival

antibiotic therapy

microbiome disruption

bevacizumab maintenance treatment

high-risk disease

endometrial carcinoma classification

cisplatin resistance

microbiome role in cancer