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Ovarian Cancer: Targeted and Immunotherapies

Targeted therapies are designed to kill cancer cells, while sparing normal cells. Immunotherapies help the immune system detect and attack cancer cells. Learn more about how they are used for ovarian cancer.

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Targeted and Immunotherapies for Ovarian and Related Cancers

This section covers the following topics:

Targeted therapies

Immunotherapy

Table with ovarian cancer immunotherapies and targeted therapies

What is ?

Targeted therapy is a type of cancer treatment designed to attack or kill cancer cells, while sparing normal cells as much as possible. They are designed to target abnormal proteins, receptors or genes that are found in cancer cells or the surrounding tissue. Targeted therapies are used to treat advanced ovarian cancer. Two targeted therapies most commonly used for ovarian cancer are:

Avastin (bevacizumab)
PARP inhibitors

Avastin

Avastin is a targeted therapy that works by cutting off the blood supply to the cancer. It may be given as treatment in combination with chemotherapy, or as after treatment alone or in combination with Lynparza.

PARP inhibitors

PARP inhibitors work by blocking a protein used by cells to repair damaged . They were initially developed to treat cancers in people with an inherited gene mutation or mutation. Three PARP inhibitors have been approved for treating ovarian cancer:

Lynparza ()
()
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PARP inhibitors have received approval for maintenance therapy after chemotherapy treatment for advanced ovarian cancer to keep the cancer from coming back or growing:

Lynparza, Rubraca and Zejula have all been approved for maintenance therapy after chemotherapy. See the table below for more information about the indication for each drug.

Research is ongoing to learn if PARP inhibitors are also affective for treating ovarian cancer in other situations, including:

people with an in a different gene that repairs DNA damage (for example: , , , ).
people who do not have an inherited gene mutation, but tumor testing found an acquired tumor mutation in a gene that repairs DNA damage.
in combination with or other agents.

Visit our research section to find ovarian cancer treatment research studies.

Other targeted therapies

Targeted therapies are often given to people based on specific changes in their cancer cells. Tumor biomarker testing can help doctors identify the patients most likely to benefit from a targeted therapy. Below is a list of some of the targeted therapies that may be used to treat certain types of ovarian cancer, often after chemotherapy stops working.

ELAHERE (mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx) may be used for recurrent ovarian cancer that tests positive for a biomarker known as FRα (folate receptor alpha).
Vitrakvi (larotrectinib) is approved for treatment of ovarian cancer that is or cannot be removed with surgery and has worsened with other treatments. It targets a specific genetic change called an NTRK fusion. This type of genetic change is found in a range of cancers.
Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) is a type of targeted therapy approved for treatment of advanced, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer if tumor testing shows a biomarker called .
Retevmo (Selpercatinib) if tumor testing is positive for a biomarker called RET gene fusion.

Speak with your doctor if you have advanced ovarian cancer and you are not sure if you had biomarker testing, or if you don't understand your test results.

Researchers are studying new ways to use targeted therapies to treat endometrial cancer. Visit our Featured Research section for more information.

What is immunotherapy?

Immunotherapies are cancer treatments that help the body’s immune system detect and attack cancer cells. Immune checkpoint inhibitors are a type of immunotherapy used to treat several types of cancer, including some types of ovarian cancer. Some cancer cells can switch off the immune system. Immune checkpoint inhibitors are drugs that prevent this from happening. This allows the immune system to find, unmask and destroy cancer cells.

Keytruda (pembrolizumab) is an immune check point inhibitor approved for treatment of metastatic cancer with a biomarker known as (or ). Although this biomarker is not common in ovarian cancer, it is often seen in people with a gene mutation who develop cancer. It is also approved for treating people with a biomarker known as TMB-high.
Jemperli (dostarlimab) is an immunotherapy approved for treatment of metastatic cancer with a biomarker known as MSI-high (or dMMR). Although this biomarker is not common in ovarian cancer, it is often seen in people with a Lynch syndrome gene mutation who develop cancer.

See our Immunotherapy section for more information.

In the News

Update : News from the FDA: New ovarian cancer treatment and imaging drug

Topic : Experts call for early palliative care for cancer patients

Participate in Research

Study of a New InvestigationaI Inhibitor to Treat People with Advanced Solid Tumors

Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT05932862

Investigational PARP Inhibitor AZD5305 Alone or Combined With Other Anti-cancer Agents in People With Advanced Solid Tumors (PETRA)

Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT04644068

Table listing targeted and immunotherapies for ovarian cancer

Table of targeted and immunotherapies for ovarian cancer: Table listing the targeted and immunotherapies used for the treatment of ovarian cancer

Name of Drug	Cancer Stage	Line of Treatment	Indication	Biomarker	Type of Agent
Avastin (bevacizumab)	Stage 2, 3 or 4	First-line treatment	Combined with front-line chemotherapy, then continued as a single agent following initial surgery to remove the cancer	No biomarker required	Targeted therapy that blocks the blood supply to tumors by targeting a protein called VEGF (Vascular endothelial growth factor)
Avastin (bevacizumab)	Stage 3 or 4	First-line maintenance therapy	Combined with Lynparza (olaparib) for platinum-sensitive cancer	BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation, or HRD-positive (homologous recombination deficiency)	Targeted therapy that blocks the blood supply to tumors
Avastin (bevacizumab)	Stage 3 or 4	Second or third-line	Combined with chemotherapy for platinum-resistant recurrent disease	No biomarker required	Targeted therapy that blocks the blood supply to tumors
Avastin (bevacizumab)	Stage 3 or 4	Second-line or later	Combined with chemotherapy, followed by Avastin as a single agent, for platinum-sensitive recurrent diesase	No biomarker required	Targeted therapy that blocks the blood supply to tumors
Lynparza (olaparib)	Stage 3 or 4	First-line maintenance	For people who had a complete or partial response to platinum chemotherapy	Inherited (germline) mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2 Tumor (somatic) mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2	Type of targeted therapy known as a PARP inhibitor
Lynparza (olaparib)	Stage 3 or 4	First-line maintenance	Combined with Avastin (bevacuzimab) for people who had a complete or partial response to platinum chemotherapy	Inherited mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2, or HRD-positive (Homologous Recombination Deficiency-positive)	Type of targeted therapy known as a PARP inhibitor
Zejula (niraparib)	Stage 3 or 4	First-line maintenance	For people who had a complete or partial response to platinum chemotherapy	No biomarker required	Type of targeted therapy known as a PARP inhibitor
Lynparza (olaparib) Rubraca (rucaparib) Zejula (niraparib)	Stage 3 or 4	Second-line or later maintenance	For people who had a complete or partial response to platinum chemotherapy	No biomarker required	Type of targeted therapy known as a PARP inhibitor
ELAHERE (mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx)	Stage 3 or 4	Second-line or later	For treatment of platinum-resistant or platinum-sensitive recurrent ovarian cancer	Positive for FRα (folate receptor alpha)	Antibody-drug conjugate (chemotherapy attached to antibody targeting FR-α receptor)
Enhertu (fam-trastuzumab-deruxtecan-nxki)	Metastatic or unresectable solid tumors	Second-line or later	For adults with unresectable or metastatic, HER2-positive solid tumors who have received prior systemic treatment and have no alternative treatment options	HER2 overexpression (HER2-positive)	Antibody-drug conjugate (chemotherapy attached to antibody targeting HER2 receptor)
Keytruda (pembrolizumab)	Metastatic or unresectable cancers	Second-line or later	For treatment of solid tumors that have progressed after treatment and for which there are no other treatment options	MSI-H (microsatellite instability-high), or dMMR/MMR-D (mismatch repair deficient)	Type of immunotherapy known as an immune checkpoint inhibitor
Keytruda (pembrolizumab)	Metastatic or unresectable cancers	Second-line or later	For treatment of solid tumors that have progressed after treatment and for which there are no other treatment options	TMB-H (tumor mutational burden-high)	Type of immunotherapy known as an immune checkpoint inhibitor
Vitrakvi (larotrectinib)	Metastatic solid tumors	Second-line or later	For treatment in metastatic solid tumors for which there are no other treatment options	NTRK fusion	Targeted therapy known as a kinase inhibitor
Retevmo (Selpercatinib)	Metastatic solid tumors	Second-line or later	For treatment in metastatic solid tumors for which there are no other treatment options	RET gene fusion	Targeted therapy known as a kinase inhibitor

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Last updated January 04, 2024

Ovarian Cancer: Targeted and Immunotherapies

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