Exploring Another Biomarker in Ovarian Cancer

Folate receptor alpha is proving to be a promising biomarker to determine who may benefit from treatment with mirvetuximab soravtansine, also called “mirv,” according to David O’Malley, M.D., professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center.

In the FORWARD II study, researchers looked at “mirv” plus Avastin (bevacizumab) in patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. There were three groups, including low expressers of folate receptor alpha (25 to 50 percent of cells expressing it), medium expressers (50 to 75 percent) and high expressers (more that 75 percent). Since “mirv” is a folate receptor alpha-targeting antibody-drug conjugate, the medium- and high-expresser groups had better results when it came to both progression-free survival and overall response rates. Now, this will be an area of focus moving forward, according to O’Malley.