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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 ?

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 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 ()
()
()

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

Lynparza, and have all been approved for 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 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 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 testing can help doctors identify the patients most likely to benefit from a . 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 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 called .
Retevmo (Selpercatinib) if tumor testing is positive for a called RET gene fusion.

Speak with your doctor if you have advanced ovarian cancer and you are not sure if you had 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 ?

Immunotherapies are cancer treatments that help the body’s immune system detect and attack cancer cells. Immune checkpoint inhibitors are a type of 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 cancer with a known as (or ). Although this 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 known as TMB-high.
Jemperli (dostarlimab) is an approved for treatment of cancer with a known as (or ). Although this is not common in ovarian cancer, it is often seen in people with a gene mutation who develop cancer.

See our 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 Investigational 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	Line of Treatment	Indication		Type of Agent
Avastin (bevacizumab)	2, 3 or 4	treatment	Combined with front-line chemotherapy, then continued as a single agent following initial surgery to remove the cancer	No required	that blocks the blood supply to tumors by targeting a protein called VEGF (Vascular endothelial growth factor)
Avastin (bevacizumab)	3 or 4	maintenance therapy	Combined with Lynparza () for platinum-sensitive cancer	or mutation, or HRD-positive ()	that blocks the blood supply to tumors
Avastin (bevacizumab)	3 or 4	Second or third-line	Combined with chemotherapy for platinum-resistant recurrent disease	No required	that blocks the blood supply to tumors
Avastin (bevacizumab)	3 or 4	Second-line or later	Combined with chemotherapy, followed by Avastin as a single agent, for platinum-sensitive recurrent diesase	No required	that blocks the blood supply to tumors
Lynparza ()	3 or 4	maintenance	For people who had a complete or partial response to platinum chemotherapy	Inherited () mutation in or Tumor (somatic) mutation in or	Type of known as a
Lynparza ()	3 or 4	maintenance	Combined with Avastin (bevacuzimab) for people who had a complete or partial response to platinum chemotherapy	in or , or HRD-positive ( Deficiency-positive)	Type of known as a
()	3 or 4	maintenance	For people who had a complete or partial response to platinum chemotherapy	No required	Type of known as a
Lynparza () () ()	3 or 4	Second-line or later maintenance	For people who had a complete or partial response to platinum chemotherapy	No required	Type of known as a
ELAHERE (mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx)	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)	or unresectable	Second-line or later	For adults with unresectable or , solid tumors who have received prior systemic treatment and have no alternative treatment options	overexpression ()	Antibody-drug conjugate (chemotherapy attached to antibody targeting receptor)
Keytruda (pembrolizumab)	or unresectable cancers	Second-line or later	For treatment of 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 known as an immune checkpoint inhibitor
Keytruda (pembrolizumab)	or unresectable cancers	Second-line or later	For treatment of that have progressed after treatment and for which there are no other treatment options	TMB-H (tumor mutational burden-high)	Type of known as an immune checkpoint inhibitor
Vitrakvi (larotrectinib)	solid tumors	Second-line or later	For treatment in solid tumors for which there are no other treatment options	NTRK fusion	known as a kinase inhibitor
Retevmo (Selpercatinib)	solid tumors	Second-line or later	For treatment in solid tumors for which there are no other treatment options	RET gene fusion	known as a kinase inhibitor