OncLive Summit Looks at Ovarian Cancer and Soft Tissue Sarcoma

A recent OncLive State of the Science Summit focused on new therapies and other issues in ovarian cancer and soft tissue sarcoma.

The March 26 event in New York was chaired by Mario M. Leitao Jr., MD, fellowship director of gynecology service and director of the minimal access and robotic surgery program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. A podcast of the event is upcoming on the OncLive On Air site, where other podcasts can also be found.

In addition to a question-and-answer session and peer-exchange discussion, experts examined ovarian cancer topics such as molecular testing, surgical options for the newly diagnosed, maintenance therapy and immunotherapy in advanced disease, and therapies for recurrent cancer.

They also discussed metastatic leiomyosarcoma, a type of soft tissue sarcoma that affects smooth muscle tissue. The tumors are most common in the abdomen, but can occur anywhere in the body, including the uterus.

Presenters included Sloan Kettering experts such as medical oncologists Jason A. Konner, Chrisann Kyi, Roisin E. O’Cearbhaill, and Dmitriy Zamarin. They also included Paul Sabbatini, internist, medical oncologist and deputy physician-in-chief for clinical research; and Britta Weigelt, PhD, research scientist and director of the Gynecology DMT Research Laboratory.

Open to all healthcare professionals, State of the Science Summits assemble academic and community-based physicians and healthcare professionals across disciplines ranging from medical to surgical oncology. Featuring specialist experts, the meetings focus on the most relevant topics in improving patient care.

The next summit, on breast cancer, is set for April 10 in Dallas, Texas. The next ovarian cancer  summit is scheduled for May 15 in Pasadena, California. Go to the OncLive website for more information and a list of upcoming meetings.

This year, an estimated 22,530 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer, a rate that has slowly dropped over the last two decades, according to the American Cancer Society. Of those women, 13,980 are expected to die from the disease.

Women diagnosed with a localized-stage disease have more than a 90 percent five-year survival rate. But because of relatively subtle symptoms and the lack of an effective early detection method, four of five ovarian cancer patients are diagnosed with advanced disease.