Synergistic clinical efficacy of niraparib in combination with pembrolizumab in patients with recurrent platinum-resistant ovarian carcinoma

Ovarian cancer is the most common cause of gynecologic cancer death in the United States with 22,530 newly diagnosed cases and 13,980 deaths annually. There has been a miniscule, approximately 2.3% decrease, each year in the death rates from ovarian cancer over the past few decades (1). Although most patients with advanced ovarian cancer respond to initial platinum-based chemotherapy, 70% will relapse and ultimately become resistant, refractory, or unable to receive platinum-based chemotherapy owing to cumulative toxic effects (2,3). This has led to a paradigm shift in the approach to the treatment of ovarian cancer with precision medicine and additional targeted therapies becoming part of the standard treatment regimen.