Patients with platinum-sensitive relapsed (PSR) serous ovarian cancer (SOC) have poor survival outcomes, with the median progression-free survival (PFS) after chemotherapy less than six months in many patients. Based on results from the SOLO2 study that found that maintenance olaparib after response to chemotherapy resulted in a significant improvement in PFS compared to placebo (median PFS = 19.1 versus 5.5 months) in patients with germline BRCA mutation PSR SOC (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.30; 95% CI = 0.22–0.41; p < 0.0001), researchers assessed the impact of health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL). The researchers presented the study at the ASCO Annual Meeting.

On December 19, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted accelerated approval to rucaparib (RUBRACA™, Clovis Oncology Inc.) for treatment of patients with deleterious BRCA mutation (germline and/or somatic) associated advanced ovarian cancer who have been treated with two or more chemotherapies.

On September 7, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an alert for women about the risks involved with ovarian cancer screening tests. According to the FDA, no current screening test is sensitive enough to identify ovarian cancer without inaccurate results. As such, the FDA is concerned that patients and physicians might be misled by these results and make unnecessary treatment decisions.

ONS Strategic Sponsor Approximately 15 percent of woman with ovarian cancer have a BRCA mutation and every year, many patients with ovarian cancer are not tested for a BRCA mutation. Family history and age are poor predictors of BRCA status in ovarian cancer patients, which is why it is so important for all women with ovarian cancer to be tested. BeBRCAware is a movement to raise awareness about the importance of genetic testing for a BRCA mutation in ovarian cancer.