Results from SOLO-1 Presented at ESMO 2018 – Impressive Findings for Olaparib Maintenance Therapy in Patients with Newly-diagnosed, Advanced BRCA-mutated Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is a leading cause of cancer death in women worldwide, with almost 300,000 cases diagnosed in 2018.¹ If diagnosed and treated at stage I, the 5-year relative survival rate is 92%. However, only about 15% of ovarian cancers are diagnosed at this stage, and the prognosis for advanced ovarian cancer is bleak: 5-year survival rates at stage III and IV are 39% and 17%, respectively.² The standard of care for advanced ovarian cancer is cytoreductive surgery followed by chemotherapy,³ but the majority of patients relapse within 24 months.⁴

In recent years, however, a new class of drugs, poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors, has provided new hope for a subgroup of patients with ovarian cancer. The PARP protein is involved in single-stranded DNA repair.⁵ The BRCA1/2 genes, together with several other genes, code for this protein. If the ability of a cell to repair single-strand breaks (SSBs) is impaired, they become double-strand breaks (DSBs), which are lethal unless repaired. PARP inhibitors inhibit the repair of DNA SSBs, thus transforming them into DNA DSBs. This process is called synthetic lethality and is a selective therapeutic approach that is very specific for cells that have homologous recombination deficiency (HRD), such as ovarian cancer.6 An estimated 11–15% of patients with ovarian cancer have germline BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations.^7,8 In addition, loss of BRCA function can occur through somatic mutations, potentially expanding the number of patients who may benefit from PARP inhibition.⁹

The most extensively studied PARP inhibitor is olaparib (Lynparza^®; AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK ), which was approved in 2014 by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) as the first-in-class PARP inhibitor for the treatment of patients with germline BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer following previous chamotherapy.⁶ In 2017, the phase III SOLO-2 showed that maintenance treatment with olaparib provided a significant progression-free survival (PFS) improvement in patients with platinum-sensitive, relapsed ovarian cancer and a BRCA1/2 mutation. The most common adverse event of severity grade 3 or worse was anaemia in 19%; other adverse events were generally low-grade and manageable.¹⁰

Following these promising findings, the phase III SOLO-1 study evaluated the efficacy and safety of olaparib as a maintenance treatment for patients with newly-diagnosed, advanced BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer who were in complete or partial response following first-line standard platinum-based chemotherapy.¹¹ Detailed results of the SOLO-1 study were presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) meeting in October 2018 in Munich, Germany. These results showed statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in PFS with olaparib compared to placebo, with a reduction in the risk of disease progression or death of 70% (hazard ratio 0.30 [95% confidence interval 0.23–0.41], p<0.001). After 41 months follow-up, the median PFS for patients treated with olaparib was not reached compared with 13.8 months for women in the placebo arm. Among patients receiving olaparib, 60% remained progression-free at 36 months compared with 27% of women treated with placebo. Safety findings were consistent with those in previous studies.¹¹

Kathleen Moore, Co-Principal Investigator of the SOLO-1 trial and Associate Director for Clinical Research at the Stephenson Cancer Centre at the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, US, said: ‘Women with ovarian cancer are often diagnosed with advanced disease, which unfortunately is associated with poor long-term survival rates. The newly-diagnosed setting is our best opportunity to achieve a sustained remission, since once a patient’s ovarian cancer recurs, it is typically incurable. The SOLO-1 results demonstrate the potential of Lynparza maintenance therapy earlier in the treatment pathway and reinforce the importance of identifying a patient’s BRCA mutation status at the time of diagnosis – these results could change the way we treat women with advanced BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer.’¹¹

It is easy to understand the excitement in the medical community around PARP inhibitors. They are administered orally, which is convenient for patients. Biomarkers such as sequencing BRCA1/2, panel sequencing, or HRD assays, can identify the patients who will benefit the most from this therapy. Two other drugs in this class have received marketing approval in the treatment of ovarian cancer: rucaparib (Rubraca^®; Clovis Oncology, Boulder, CO, US) and niraparib (MK-4827, Zejula^®; Tesaro, Waltham, MA, US).

Further clinical investigation of PARP inhibitors is underway. A number of clinical trials are investigating the combination of PARP inhibitors and immune checkpoint inhibitors. Recent data from the phase II MEDIOLA trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02734004)¹² showed that combination therapy with olaparib and the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab (Imfinzi^®; AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK) induced objective responses in more than 70% of patients with relapsed, platinum-sensitive, BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer.¹³ The combination of PARP inhibitors and angiogenesis inhibitors is also being explored; the ongoing phase III trial, PAOLA-1 (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02477644),¹⁴ is evaluating the combination of olaparib and bevacizumab (Avastin^®; Genentech, South San Francisco, CA, US) as a maintenance treatment for patients with newly-diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer, regardless of their BRCA status. A phase II study is evaluating the combination of niraparib and bevacizumab in the maintenance setting for patients with advanced ovarian cancer following response on frontline platinum-based chemotherapy (NCT03326193).¹⁵ In addition, a phase III study of combined cediranib and olaparib (NCT02446600)¹⁶ is ongoing after the combination demonstrated impressive efficacy in a phase II study.¹³ Other ongoing phase I/II studies include olaparib in combination with PI3K pathway inhibitors (< a href=”https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01623349″>NCT01623349),¹⁷ AKT inhibitors (NCT02338622),¹⁸ and mTORC1/2 inhibitors (NCT02208375),¹⁹ and an inhibitor of the tyrosine kinase WEE1 (a href=”https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02511795″>NCT02511795). ²⁰

One potential concern of olaparib therapy is an increased risk of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDL)/acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), both of which have been reported in clinical use of olaparib and are associated with increasing dose and duration of platinum therapy.²¹ However, an analysis of SOLO-2 data concluded that olaparib did not increase the risk of MDS/AML compared with placebo.²² Many patients having received more than 5 years of continuous olaparib therapy without serious adverse events, and positive data continues to accumulate. However, with treatment durations anticipated to become even longer, greater numbers of patients receiving this therapy, and the ongoing investigation of novel combination strategies employing PARP inhibitors, ongoing monitoring will be essential.

References

1. Bray, F, , Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, et al. Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin. 2018;68:394–424.
2. American Cancer Society. Survival Rates for Ovarian Cancer, by Stage, 2018. Available at: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/ovarian-cancer/detection-diagnosis-staging/survival-rates.html (accessed 30 October 2018).
3. Raja FA, Chopra N, Ledermann JA. Optimal first-line treatment in ovarian cancer. Ann Oncol. 2012;23 Suppl 10:x118–27.
4. Gadducci A, Fuso L, Cosio S, et al. Are surveillance procedures of clinical benefit for patients treated for ovarian cancer? A retrospective Italian multicentric study. Int J Gynecol Cancer. 2009;19:367–74.
5. Helleday T. The underlying mechanism for the PARP and BRCA synthetic lethality: clearing up the misunderstandings. Mol Oncol. 2011;5:387–93.
6. Lorusso D, Tripodi E, Maltese G, et al. Spotlight on olaparib in the treatment of BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer: design, development and place in therapy. Drug Des Devel Ther. 2018;12:1501–9.
7. Pal T, Permuth-Wey J, Betts JA, et al. BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations account for a large proportion of ovarian carcinoma cases. Cancer. 2005;10:2807–16.
8. Risch HA, McLaughlin JR, Cole DE, et al. Population BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation frequencies and cancer penetrances: a kin-cohort study in Ontario, Canada. Natl Cancer Inst. 2006;98:1694–706.
9. Hennessy BT, Timms KM, Carey MS, et al. Somatic mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 could expand the number of patients that benefit from poly (ADP ribose) polymerase inhibitors in ovarian cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2010;28:3570–6.
10. Pujade-Lauraine E, Ledermann JA, Selle F, et al. Olaparib tablets as maintenance therapy in patients with platinum-sensitive, relapsed ovarian cancer and a BRCA1/2 mutation (SOLO2/ENGOT-Ov21): a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2017;18:1274–84.
11. AstraZeneca. Press release. SOLO-1 Phase III trial demonstrates Lynparza maintenance therapy cut risk of disease progression or death by 70% in patients with newly-diagnosed, advanced BRCA-mutated ovarian cancer, 2018. Available at: www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2018/solo-1-phase-III-trial-demonstrates-lynparza-maintenance-therapy-cut-risk-of-disease-progression-or-death-by-70-percent-in-patients-with-newly-diagnosed-advanced-brca-mutated-ovarian-cancer.html (accessed 30 October 2018).
12. Clinicaltrials.gov. A Phase I/II Study of MEDI4736 in Combination With Olaparib in Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors. (MEDIOLA). ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02734004. Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02734004 (accessed 26 November 2018).
13. Drew Y, de Jonge M, Hong S-H, et al. An open-label, phase II basket study of olaparib and durvalumab (MEDIOLA): Results in germline BRCA-mutated (gBRCAm) platinum-sensitive relapsed (PSR) ovarian cancer (OC). Presented at: SGO Annual Meeting; 24–27 March 2018; New Orleans, LA.
14. ClinicalTrials.gov. Platine, Avastin and OLAparib in 1st Line (PAOLA-1). ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02477644. Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02477644 (accessed 26 November 2018).
15. ClinicalTrials.gov. Phase 2, A Study of Niraparib Combined With Bevacizumab Maintenance Treatment in Patients With Advanced Ovarian Cancer Following Response on Front-Line Platinum-Based Chemotherapy. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03326193. Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03326193(accessed 26 November 2018).
16. ClinicalTrials.gov. Olaparib or Cediranib Maleate and Olaparib Compared With Standard Platinum-Based Chemotherapy in Treating Patients With Recurrent Platinum-Sensitive Ovarian, Fallopian Tube, or Primary Peritoneal Cancer. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02446600. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02446600 (accessed 26 November 2018).
17. ClinicalTrials.gov. Phase I Study of the Oral PI3kinase Inhibitor BKM120 or BYL719 and the Oral PARP Inhibitor Olaparib in Patients With Recurrent Triple Negative Breast Cancer or High Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01623349. Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01623349 (accessed 26 November 2018).
18. ClinicalTrials.gov. Trial of Olaparib in Combination With AZD5363 (ComPAKT) (ComPAKT). ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02338622. Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02338622 (accessed 26 November 2018).
19. ClinicalTrials.gov. A Phase Ib Study of the Oral PARP Inhibitor Olaparib With the Oral mTORC1/2 Inhibitor AZD2014 or the Oral AKT Inhibitor AZD5363 for Recurrent Endometrial, Triple Negative Breast, and Ovarian, Primary Peritoneal, or Fallopian Tube Cancer. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02208375. Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02208375 (accessed 26 November 2018).
20. ClinicalTrials.gov. AZD1775 Combined With Olaparib in Patients With Refractory Solid Tumors. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02511795. Available at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02511795 (accessed 26 November 2018).
21. Liu JF, Barry WT, Birrer M, et al. Combination cediranib and olaparib versus olaparib alone for women with recurrent platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer: a randomised phase 2 study. Lancet Oncol. 2014;15:1207–14.
22. Travis LB, Holowaty EJ, Bergfeldt K, et al. Risk of leukemia after platinum-based chemotherapy for ovarian cancer. N Engl J Med. 1999;340:351–7.
23. Korach J, Turner S, Milenkova T, et al. Incidence of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in patients (pts) with a germline (g) BRCA mutation (m) and platinum-sensitive relapsed ovarian cancer (PSR OC) receiving maintenance olaparib in SOLO2: Impact of prior lines of platinum therapy. J Clin Oncol. 2018;36 (15suppl):5548.