Veliparib Added to Carboplatin, Paclitaxel Leads to a Response in Patients with High-Grade Serous Ovarian Carcinoma

Veliparib (V) added to carboplatin and paclitaxel (CP) during induction leads to a modest increase in CA-125 responses and complete response (CR) in patients with newly diagnosed high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSC), according to findings presented at the virtual Society of Gynecologic Oncology 2020 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer.

The VELIA study evaluated progression-free survival (PFS) with V added to CP with and without V maintenance in patients with newly diagnosed HGSC. According to the study abstract, few patients experienced PFS events during CP, therefore, the study authors sought to evaluate other parameters to explore the impact of V during CP.

The study enrolled 1140 patients with previously untreated stage 3-4 HGSC who received 6 cycles (21-day interval) of CP following primary cytoreduction or as a neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) with interval cytoreduction. Participants were randomized into the following groups:

• V-throughout: CP + V then V maintenance
• V-combo-only: CP + V then placebo (PL) maintenance
• Control: CP + PL then PL maintenance

These exploratory analyses evaluated responses during the combination phase, as assessed by CA-125 levels, or a response defined as ≥ 90% reduction from baseline, or RECIST v1.1.

Approximately 67% of participants underwent primary cytoreduction. At baseline, the distribution of CA-125 levels was similar across each arm. By cycle 3, more patients receiving V achieved a CA-125 response compared with the control group. A similar trend was seen among patients undergoing NAC. Among patients with measurable disease after primary surgery (N=197), more patients in V-containing arms had CR compared with the control arm.

The study authors concluded that V added to frontline CP during induction results in a modest increase in CA-125 responses and CRs in women with newly diagnosed HGSC. These findings suggest that V added to CP during the combination phase may provide anti-tumor activity versus CP alone, according to the study.

Reference

• Anti-tumor activity of veliparib during combination phase with chemotherapy in velia study. SGO website. Published March 30, 2020. https://sgo.confex.com/sgo/2020/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/17070. Accessed April 1, 2020.