Maria Gabriella Ferrandina

BACKGROUND: Knowledge about the association between the BRCA1/2 mutation type and location and response to poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPis) as single agent in ovarian cancer is limited. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of PARPi based on functional domains (FD) [RING, BRCT, DNA-binding (BD), RAD51-BD] and types (frameshift, missense, nonsense, splicing) of BRCA1/2 gene mutations in ovarian cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This multicenter real-world study retrospectively enrolled BRCA1/2-mutated ovarian cancer patients receiving olaparib maintenance between January 2010 and December 2022. Data were compared with historical series of patients who did not receive olaparib and analyzed based on the FD involved in BRCA1/2 mutations. Progression-free survival was calculated from the date of the last platinum-based treatment until recurrence or last follow-up. RESULTS: After a median follow-up of 46 months (range 32-60 months), 140 patients who underwent olaparib maintenance were compared with 128 who did not. PARPi showed efficacy in the overall population. The no-exon 11 patients benefitted more from olaparib than exon 11 patients [hazard ratio (HR) 0.48, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.25-0.93]. In the BRCA1 group, patients with mutations in RING and BRCT domains had significant benefits from PARPi (HR 0.08, 95% CI 0.01-0.75; HR 0.10, 95% CI 0.02-0.38, respectively). Among BRCA2-mutated patients, RAD51-BD mutations were associated with higher response to olaparib (HR 0.23, 95% CI 0.10-0.52). According to the mutation type, the major effect of PARPi was in the missense group (HR 0.04, 95% CI 0.01-0.31). No patients with p.(Ala1708Glu) in the BRCT domain (BRCA1) receiving PARPi experienced recurring disease in the study period. CONCLUSIONS: BRCA1/2-mutated patients benefit from olaparib, but with variations according to the mutation type and FDs. BRCA1-mutated patients in the RING or BRCT and BRCA2-mutated in the RAD51-BD have the greatest benefit. Patients with missense mutations, especially those with p.(Ala1708Glu), have the most significant advantage from maintenance with PARPi.

Timely access to cancer therapies with significant added value is an important expectation for patients and a primary responsibility for every public health service. Over time, collaboration between the pharmaceutical industry and regulatory agencies has made it possible to agree to implement tools in order to accelerate the development and approval of potentially innovative drugs. In Italy, too, several early access tools have been introduced. In June 2018 a panel of experts agreed on the need to simplify and streamline early access assessment criteria and processes. The panel developed a proposal to categorize cancer drugs eligible for early access. In the curative setting, the evaluation of the medical need should take into account both the relapse rate, attributed on the basis of the disease free survival (DFS), and the strength of the recommendations of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology (AIOM) for any therapeutic alternatives already available. The panel then found it appropriate to use the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) criteria for the evaluation of the clinical benefit. The sum of the scores assigned to the three parameters should allow the clinical value of the drug to be defined and, consequently, the priorities for early access to be established. This multiparameter approach can also be adapted to the non-curative setting. The early access process should be reserved for first-in-class drugs and should provide for the recognition of a conditional reimbursement within 60 days, financed by a special fund. The proposal developed by the panel has the objective of starting a proactive discussion with the Italian health authority.

BACKGROUND: To compare the late toxicity rates after two different high dose rate (HDR) adjuvant intravaginal interventional radiotherapy (IRT-brachytherapy) dose schedules in stage I-II endometrial cancer. METHODS: Stage I-II patients with endometrial cancer treated with surgery (with or without lymphadenectomy) and adjuvant HDR-IRT between 2014 and 2020 were included in this analysis. Patients were treated with two schedules. In the first cohort (C1), 21 Gy were delivered in three weekly fractions (7 Gy) prescribed 0.5 cm from the applicator surface. In the second cohort (C2), 24 Gy were delivered in four weekly fractions (6 Gy). The clinical target volume was the upper third of the vagina for C1 and the upper 3 cm for C2. HDR-IRT technique and point prescription (5 mm depth from the applicator surface) were the same for all patients. Vaginal toxicity was scored according to the CTCAE 5.0 scale in terms of the presence versus absence of any toxicity grade. The correlation among toxicity and clinical covariates (age, lymphadenectomy, fractionation, stage) was tested by Pearson correlation test (univariate) and by logistic regression (multivariable). RESULTS: 114 stage I and three stage II patients, median age 62 (range: 32-85) years, were included in this analysis. The mean follow-up was 56.3 months in C1 (40-76) and 20 months in C2 (8-42). Vaginal late toxicity was recorded in 40 and 15 patients in C1 and 2, respectively. Age, lymphadenectomy, and fractionation were significantly correlated with toxicity at univariate analysis (p value = 0.029, 0.006, and 0.002, respectively), while stepwise logistic regression confirmed only age and fractionation as significantly correlated parameters (p value = 0.02 and 0.001, respectively). Three-year local relapse-free, distant metastasis-free and cause-specific survival rates were 96.6%, 94.8%, and 99.1%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This analysis showed lower vaginal late toxicity rate in C2 compared to C1.

(Abstracted from Int J Gynecol Cancer 2020;30:1657–1664) Diagnosis of ovarian, fallopian, and primary peritoneal cancer typically occurs in the setting of advanced disease. Two approaches to the initial treatment of these advanced malignancies are neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by interval debulking surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy and primary debulking surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy.