Ovarian cancer videos and resources for HCPs

LYNPARZA ovarian cancer videos

Dr Sharyn N. Lewin Discusses the PAOLA-1 Clinical Trial Results

In this video, Dr Sharyn N. Lewin, a leading gynecologic oncologist, discusses key data for LYNPARZA® (olaparib) + bevacizumab from the PAOLA-1 study, including the prespecified 5-year follow-up PFS and OS analyses, and post hoc exploratory subgroup analyses of PFS and OS by clinical risk.

Please see Important Safety Information for LYNPARZA within the video and below.

[Light music fades in with visual]

LYNPARZA is indicated in combination with bevacizumab for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with advanced epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer who are in complete or partial response to first-line platinum-based chemotherapy and whose cancer is associated with homologous recombination deficiency (HRD)-positive status defined by either a deleterious or suspected deleterious BRCA mutation, and/or genomic instability. Select patients for therapy based on an FDA-approved companion diagnostic for LYNPARZA

Select Safety Information

  • Serious and potentially fatal adverse events included:
    • Myelodysplastic syndrome/acute myeloid leukemia (MDS/AML): Monitor patients for hematological toxicity at baseline and monthly thereafter. Discontinue if MDS/AML is confirmed
    • Pneumonitis: Interrupt treatment if pneumonitis is suspected. Discontinue if pneumonitis is confirmed
    • Venous thromboembolism (VTE): Including severe or fatal pulmonary embolism (PE). Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of venous thrombosis and PE, and treat as medically appropriate
    • Hepatotoxicity, including drug-induced liver injury (DILI): Evaluate bilirubin and transaminases at baseline and throughout treatment with LYNPARZA. For patients who develop abnormal liver tests after LYNPARZA, monitor more frequently for liver test abnormalities and clinical signs and symptoms of hepatic toxicity. If DILI is suspected, interrupt LYNPARZA. If DILI is confirmed, discontinue treatment
  • Advise patients of the potential risk of embryo-fetal toxicity and to use effective contraception
  • Most common adverse reactions (≥10%) in clinical trials:
    • in combination with bevacizumab were nausea, fatigue (including asthenia), anemia, lymphopenia, vomiting, diarrhea, neutropenia, leukopenia, urinary tract infection, and headache

Please see Important Safety Information later in this video

Hello, I’m Dr Sharyn Lewin, Director of Gynecologic Oncology at Holy Name in Teaneck, New Jersey. I’m also an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, New York

During the time that we’re together today, we will review the primary analysis from the PAOLA-1 trial, data from the 5-year follow-up overall survival analysis, as well as a post hoc exploratory subgroup analysis of PFS by higher and lower clinical risk in HRD-positive patients

PAOLA-1 was a registration trial that was designed to meet an important unmet need

Key eligibility criteria included women with Stage 3 or 4 advanced ovarian, primary peritoneal, or fallopian tube cancers regardless of BRCA mutation status; so really all-comers were enrolled. Women could have had either upfront surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy or neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by an interval surgery. They had to have at least three cycles of bevacizumab in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy

If they had at least a partial response, they were then randomized in a two-to-one fashion to maintenance therapy with either bevacizumab in combination with LYNPARZA or bevacizumab alone. So, this trial unlike the other PARP trials in ovarian cancer, has an active comparator arm, bevacizumab, which was continued for up to 15 months. This included the time given with chemotherapy and as maintenance at the standard dose of 15 mg/kg

In the experimental arm, LYNPARZA was given at 300 mg twice a day for up to 2 years or until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. The primary endpoint was investigator-assessed progression-free survival. Overall survival was a key secondary endpoint, and a prespecified exploratory analysis looked at PFS in predefined subgroups including those with HRD and BRCA mutation status. PFS in HRD-positive patients served as the basis for the FDA-approved indication

We saw in the PAOLA-1 trial that about half of the participants had HRD, so essentially the biomarker status that we saw in PAOLA-1 really mirrors what we see in real-world practice

HRD was measured by a companion diagnostic, Myriad’s MyChoice CDx. Their genomic instability score measures loss of heterozygosity, telomeric allelic imbalance, and large-scale state transitions

Now let’s look at the initial data from the primary analysis before we talk about the prespecified 5-year follow-up in the HRD-positive patients

As you can see from the top line in green, the median PFS with the combination of LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab in the primary analysis was 37.2 months versus 17.7 months with bevacizumab alone. Here the hazard ratio was 0.33 so a 67 percent reduction in progression or death by having a combination of LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab versus bevacizumab alone

Here you can see the Kaplan–Meier curve from the 5-year follow-up data in these HRD-positive patients. The median PFS with the combination of LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab was 46.8 months, or almost four years compared to the bevacizumab-only arm, in which the median PFS was 17.6 months, or almost 1.5 years

Here the hazard ratio was 0.41 so essentially a 59 percent risk reduction in progression or death by having LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab versus bevacizumab alone. At five years, approximately half of those women with HRD were progression-free with the combination of LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab versus only approximately 19 percent with bevacizumab alone. Data were not powered to detect a statistical difference

Next, let’s look at the overall survival data in these patients

In the prespecified 5-year follow-up overall survival analysis in HRD-positive patients, at 5 years nearly 66 percent of patients were estimated to be alive with the combination of LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab versus only about 48 percent with bevacizumab alone

You can see here the median overall survival with the combination was 75.2 months or about 6.3 years and in the bevacizumab-only arm this was 57.3 months or about 4.8 years

Of note, this analysis was not powered to detect a statistical difference

This is a post hoc exploratory subgroup analysis of progression-free survival by clinical risk for relapse in HRD-positive patients. These are women with Stage 3 disease who had upfront surgery and had residual disease or received neoadjuvant chemotherapy or Stage 4 patients

There is no official clinical consensus on what is considered higher versus lower risk. Data are based on post hoc exploratory subgroup analyses in 2 clinical subgroups, higher-risk and lower-risk, including biomarker status. Neither HRD status nor risk factor was a stratification factor in PAOLA-1

The lower-risk patients are those with Stage 3 disease that underwent upfront surgery and were completely resected. Those women as we know fall into a sort of better prognostic group than the highest-risk patients

–The median PFS in the LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab arm has not yet been reached. And, if you look at the Kaplan-Meier curve, LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab at the two-year mark, ninety percent of the lower-risk patients were progression-free at 2 years.

–Whereas with bevacizumab alone, the median PFS here is 22 months and only 43 percent of patients are progression-free at the 24-month mark. So there was a hazard ratio of 0.15, an 85-percent risk reduction in progression or death by having the combination of LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab versus bevacizumab alone

The median PFS in these highest-risk patients was about 36 months with a combination of LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab versus about 16 months in the group that was treated with bevacizumab alone

Here, the hazard ratio was 0.39, almost a 61 percent risk reduction in progression or death by having the combination of LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab versus bevacizumab alone

Here are the data for the 5-year follow-up, post hoc exploratory subgroup analysis of overall survival by clinical risk for relapse in HRD-positive patients

Again, there is no official clinical consensus on what is considered higher versus lower risk, and neither HRD status nor risk factor was a stratification factor in PAOLA-1

The median OS in the LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab arm and the bevacizumab alone arm are not evaluable, with a hazard ratio of 0.31, so a nearly 70% risk reduction

Looking at the 5-year mark, 88.3% of patients were estimated to be alive with LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab, and 61.3% were estimated to be alive with bevacizumab alone

You can see that the median OS in these higher-risk patients was 67 months with the combination of LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab versus 54 months with bevacizumab alone. The median for LYNPARZA + bevacizumab is unstable due to a lack of events. Here, the hazard ratio was 0.70, so about a 30 percent risk reduction with the combination of LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab versus bevacizumab alone

Here we have the adverse reactions reported in 10 percent or more of women with LYNPARZA and bevacizumab and 5% or more in those that received bevacizumab alone

So, as you can see, most of the adverse reactions were Grade 1 and Grade 2

Adverse events that we would typically think about like fatigue, nausea, anemia, and some of the GI side effects were more common 

Fatal adverse reactions occurred in 1 patient due to concurrent pneumonia and aplastic anemia

Serious adverse reactions occurred in 31% of patients who received LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab

Serious adverse reactions in >5% of patients included hypertension and anemia

In addition, venous thromboembolism occurred more commonly in patients receiving LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab than in those receiving placebo plus bevacizumab

This screen shows the laboratory abnormalities that were reported in 25% or more of patients treated on this study

Laboratory abnormalities were also mostly Grade 1 and Grade 2

Grades 3 or 4 lab abnormalities were experienced by 13% of patients in the active treatment arm and 4% in the active comparator arm

The most common laboratory abnormalities were decrease in hemoglobin, decrease in lymphocytes, increase in serum creatinine

You can see that in the LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab arm, 54% of patients needed dose interruptions, 41% had dose reductions, and 20% discontinued due to adverse reactions

Overall, the combination of LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab was well tolerated, so the median duration of treatment with LYNPARZA was a little over 17 months and 11 months for bevacizumab post-randomization and anemia, nausea were reported to cause discontinuation rates in 4% and 3% of patients, respectively

In the placebo arm plus bevacizumab you can see dose interruptions were necessary in about 24%, dose reductions in about 7%, and discontinuations in about 6%

Here, we see the adverse events of special interest, and it’s good to know that at the 5-year follow-up analysis no new safety signals were identified

At the 5-year follow-up analysis, the incidence of MDS/AML in patients with HRD-positive status was 1.6% in the LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab arm and 2.3% in the bevacizumab plus placebo arm

When we’re looking at primary malignancies, the rate of primary malignancies in the combination group was about 4% in the 5-year follow-up analysis and about 3% in the bevacizumab-only group

And the risk of pneumonitis in the combination group was about 1.3% at the 5-year analysis and under 1% in the bevacizumab-only group

Overall, the safety profile remained consistent with the primary analysis

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (or NCCN®) recommends the use of olaparib (LYNPARZA®) plus bevacizumab as a maintenance option for patients with a BRCA mutation or who are HRD-positive and who achieve a complete or partial response after first-line platinum-based chemotherapy plus bevacizumab; this is a category 1 recommendation

PAOLA-1 shows the efficacy of using bevacizumab and LYNPARZA as maintenance therapy in HRD-positive advanced ovarian cancer after response to platinum-based chemotherapy in combination with bevacizumab

In the prespecified exploratory analysis, the median PFS with LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab was about 3.1 years and 1.5 years in the bevacizumab-only arm

In the prespecified follow-up analysis at five years, approximately half of patients, 46% were progression-free with LYNPARZA plus bevacizumab, and 19% were progression-free with bevacizumab alone. So, there was an improvement in the median progression-free survival for these women with HRD when you’re adding LYNPARZA to bevacizumab in the maintenance setting

The median overall survival with the combination was 75.2 months or about 6.3 years and in the bevacizumab-only arm this was 57.3 months or about 4.8 years

The most common adverse reactions Grade 1 and Grade 2 included fatigue, anemia, nausea, vomiting, lymphopenia, and leukopenia

PAOLA-1 treatment eligibility is driven by HRD status. About half of women with ovarian cancer have HRD or HRD-positive tumors. It’s really critically important that we not only do germline testing right when these women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer, but also HRD testing so we can make important treatment decisions in the maintenance setting

Next, we will review the Important Safety Information for LYNPARZA

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

CONTRAINDICATIONS

There are no contraindications for LYNPARZA.

WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS

Myelodysplastic Syndrome/Acute Myeloid Leukemia (MDS/AML): Occurred in approximately 1.2% of patients (26/2219) with various BRCAm, gBRCAm, HRR gene-mutated or HRD-positive cancers who received LYNPARZA in clinical studies as a single agent or as part of a combination regimen, consistent with the approved indications, and the majority of events had a fatal outcome. The median duration of therapy in patients who developed MDS/AML was approximately 2 years (range: <6 months to >4 years). All of these patients had previous chemotherapy with platinum agents and/or other DNA-damaging agents, including radiotherapy.

In SOLO-1, patients with newly diagnosed advanced BRCAm ovarian cancer, the incidence of MDS/AML was 1.9% (5/260) in patients who received LYNPARZA and 0.8% (1/130) in patients who received placebo based on an updated analysis. In PAOLA-1, of patients with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer with HRD-positive status, the incidence of MDS/AML was 1.6% (4/255) in patients who received LYNPARZA and 2.3% (3/131) in the control arm.

In SOLO-2, patients with BRCAm platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer, the incidence of MDS/AML was 8% (15/195) in patients who received LYNPARZA and 4% (4/99) in patients who received placebo. The duration of LYNPARZA treatment prior to the diagnosis of MDS/AML ranged from 0.6 years to 4.5 years.

Do not start LYNPARZA until patients have recovered from hematological toxicity caused by previous chemotherapy (≤Grade 1). Monitor complete blood count for cytopenia at baseline and monthly thereafter for clinically significant changes during treatment. For prolonged hematological toxicities, interrupt LYNPARZA and monitor blood counts weekly until recovery. If the levels have not recovered to Grade 1 or less after 4 weeks, refer the patient to a hematologist for further investigations, including bone marrow analysis and blood sample for cytogenetics. Discontinue LYNPARZA if MDS/AML is confirmed.

Pneumonitis: Including severe and fatal cases, has occurred in patients treated with LYNPARZA. In clinical studies, among patients who received LYNPARZA as a single agent or as part of a combination regimen, the incidence of pneumonitis, including fatal cases, was 1.0% (29/2851). If patients present with new or worsening respiratory symptoms such as dyspnea, cough, and fever, or a radiological abnormality occurs, interrupt LYNPARZA treatment and promptly assess the source of the symptoms. If pneumonitis is confirmed, discontinue LYNPARZA treatment and treat the patient appropriately.

Venous Thromboembolism (VTE): Including severe or fatal pulmonary embolism (PE), occurred in patients treated with LYNPARZA. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, and treat as medically appropriate, which may include long-term anticoagulation as clinically indicated.

Hepatotoxicity, including Drug-Induced Liver Injury (DILI): Hepatotoxicity, including severe and potentially fatal cases of DILI has occurred in patients treated with LYNPARZA. Evaluate bilirubin and transaminases at baseline and throughout treatment with LYNPARZA. For patients who develop abnormal liver tests after LYNPARZA, monitor more frequently for liver test abnormalities and clinical signs and symptoms of hepatic toxicity. If DILI is suspected, withhold LYNPARZA. Upon confirmation of DILI, discontinue LYNPARZA.

Embryo-Fetal Toxicity: Based on its mechanism of action and findings in animals, LYNPARZA can cause fetal harm. Verify pregnancy status in females of reproductive potential prior to initiating treatment.

Females

Advise females of reproductive potential of the potential risk to a fetus and to use effective contraception during treatment and for 6 months following the last dose.

ADVERSE REACTIONS—First-Line Maintenance Advanced Ovarian Cancer in Combination with Bevacizumab

Most common adverse reactions (Grades 1-4) in ≥10% of patients treated with LYNPARZA/bevacizumab and at a ≥5% frequency compared to placebo/bevacizumab in the first-line maintenance setting for PAOLA-1 were: nausea (53%), fatigue (including asthenia) (53%), anemia (41%), lymphopenia (24%), vomiting (22%), and leukopenia (18%). In addition, the most common adverse reactions (≥10%) for patients receiving LYNPARZA/bevacizumab irrespective of the frequency compared with the placebo/bevacizumab arm were: diarrhea (18%), neutropenia (18%), urinary tract infection (15%), and headache (14%).

In addition, venous thromboembolism occurred more commonly in patients receiving LYNPARZA/bevacizumab (5%) than in those receiving placebo/bevacizumab (1.9%).

Most common laboratory abnormalities (Grades 1-4) in ≥25% of patients for LYNPARZA in combination with bevacizumab in the first-line maintenance setting for PAOLA-1 were: decrease in hemoglobin (79%), decrease in lymphocytes (63%), increase in serum creatinine (61%), decrease in leukocytes (59%), decrease in absolute neutrophil count (35%), and decrease in platelets (35%).

DRUG INTERACTIONS

Anticancer Agents: Clinical studies of LYNPARZA with other myelosuppressive anticancer agents, including DNA-damaging agents, indicate a potentiation and prolongation of myelosuppressive toxicity.

CYP3A Inhibitors: Avoid coadministration of strong or moderate CYP3A inhibitors when using LYNPARZA. If a strong or moderate CYP3A inhibitor must be coadministered, reduce the dose of LYNPARZA. Advise patients to avoid grapefruit, grapefruit juice, Seville oranges, and Seville orange juice during LYNPARZA treatment.

CYP3A Inducers: Avoid coadministration of strong or moderate CYP3A inducers when using LYNPARZA.

USE IN SPECIFIC POPULATIONS

Lactation: No data are available regarding the presence of olaparib in human milk, its effects on the breastfed infant or on milk production. Because of the potential for serious adverse reactions in the breastfed infant, advise a lactating woman not to breastfeed during treatment with LYNPARZA and for 1 month after receiving the final dose. 

Pediatric Use: The safety and efficacy of LYNPARZA have not been established in pediatric patients.

Hepatic Impairment: No adjustment to the starting dose is required in patients with mild or moderate hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh classification A and B). There are no data in patients with severe hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh classification C).

Renal Impairment: No dosage modification is recommended in patients with mild renal impairment (CLcr 51-80 mL/min estimated by Cockcroft-Gault). In patients with moderate renal impairment (CLcr 31-50 mL/min), reduce the dose of LYNPARZA to 200 mg twice daily. There are no data in patients with severe renal impairment or end-stage renal disease (CLcr ≤30 mL/min).

Please see complete Prescribing Information, including Medication Guide, at the URL shown on the screen.

You are encouraged to report side effects related to AstraZeneca products by calling 1-800-236-9933. If you prefer to report these to the FDA, please call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Thank you for your time. I hope you found the information presented to be useful to your clinical practice

[Light music fades in with visual]

Downloadable ovarian cancer PDFs

Progression-free Survival and Overall Survival Data Overview for First-line Maintenance in HRD-positive and s/gBRCAm Advanced Ovarian Cancer

Clinical Data from the PAOLA-1 and SOLO-1 trials PDF Thumbnail

Clinical data for first-line maintenance treatment of advanced ovarian cancer from the PAOLA-1 and SOLO-1 trials, including progression-free survival, overall survival data, and post hoc exploratory analysis by clinical risk for relapse in HRD-positive patients.

Download

Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology

Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology PDF Thumbnail

Guidelines for 1L maintenance as both monotherapy in BRCAm aOC and combination therapy in HRD-positive aOC.

Download

Role of PARP Inhibitors in Advanced Ovarian Cancer

Role of PARP Inhibitor in Advanced Ovarian Cancer PDF Thumnail

Compare indications available for PARP inhibitors in aOC, including monotherapy and combination therapy indications for LYNPARZA.

Download

Overview of HRD Testing and 1L Maintenance Data

Overview of HRD Testing and 1L Maintenance Data PDF Thumbnail

Learn about identifying patients with HRD-positive aOC, including non-BRCAm HRD-positive patients. Explore efficacy and safety results from the PAOLA-1 trial.

Download

Additional ovarian cancer resources

Adverse Reaction Management

Explore adverse reaction data from clinical trials including median onset and duration of ARs, and view AR management strategies based on established medical protocols.

Learn more