Is Trametinib a New Standard for Low-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer?

This transcript has been edited for clarity.

This is Dr Maurie Markman from Cancer Treatment Centers of America.

I would like to briefly discuss an interesting and, quite frankly, very important paper that recently appeared in The Lancet, entitled Trametinib Versus Standard of Care in Patients With Recurrent Low-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer.

The vast majority of patients with ovarian cancer have high-grade malignancies. Probably 70%-80% are high grade and moderate grade. But low-grade ovarian cancer does occur. And often it is caught early and there's a good prognosis. But in the case of recurrent or metastatic low-grade ovarian cancer, we have not had highly effective therapies beyond some benefit that is seen with platinum-based therapy.

In this particular randomized phase 3 trial, trametinib was compared with a number of possible second-line treatments; all the patients in this trial had received platinum first. This study clearly demonstrated an improvement in progression-free survival, statistically significant for trametinib compared with the standard-of-care, single-agent cytotoxic drugs.

In my opinion, this is going to form a new standard of care in the management of low-grade serous ovarian cancer. Approximately 5% of patients with advanced ovarian cancer will have low-grade cancer. But this particular therapy is clearly more effective than second-line single agents like liposomal doxorubicin and others.

I would encourage you to look at this paper that recently appeared in The Lancet regarding treating patients with low-grade ovarian cancer. This is a very important new advance in the management of this uncommon but really relatively chemotherapy-resistant entity. I thank you for your attention.

Maurie Markman, MD, is president of medicine and science at Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Philadelphia. He has more than 20 years of experience in cancer treatment and gynecologic oncology research.

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Cite this: Is Trametinib a New Standard for Low-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer? - Medscape - Jan 25, 2023.

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