Articles related to WOMEN'S HEALTH

‘Bikini medicine’ (see the Boston Globe article) is an outdated, sexist idea that men and women should be cared for similarly — dubbed as such due to the mistaken belief that women’s health only differs in the parts of women that bikinis cover. A ridiculous notion, considering that cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and autoimmune diseases affect women differently than men. Last time we checked, the bikini doesn’t cover any of them.

Blocking expression of FOXK2 in cancer stem cells inhibited growth of these cells, reducing their so-called “stemness,” making them more like normal cells.

Mirvetuximab soravtansine generated an objective response in nearly 1/3 of patients participating. That compares with response rates in the single digits for current treatments in patients whose ovarian cancer doesn’t respond to platinum-based chemotherapy.

This editorial reflects on the work by Lei and colleagues in teasing out hrHPV-negative vs. positive ovarian cancers with a 15-year follow up. But what to do with the knowledge?

The authors summarize the results of the major studies of ICB monotherapy and combinations; review novel combinations under investigation, including ICB with cellular therapies; and discuss potential candidate biomarkers for improving the selection of patients who may respond to ICB.

Mirvetuximab soravtansine is an antibody-drug conjugate that consists of an FRα-binding antibody, cleavable linker, and maytansinoid DM4, which is a potent tubulin-targeting agent. It was tested in a single-arm phase 3 trial that included 106 patients with platinum-resistant, high-grade serous epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancers with high FRα expression. The investigator-assessed ORR was nearly triple the benchmark set in prior studies of less heavily pretreated platinum-resistant ovarian cancer populations. The ORR was similar regardless of the number of prior lines of therapy or prior PARP inhibitor exposure. The rapid and durable response seen with mirvetuximab in patients with FRα-positive, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer may position it to become a practice-changing, biomarker-driven standard of care treatment option.