High grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) accounts for ~ 70% of ovarian cancer cases. Non-invasive, highly specific blood-based tests for pre-symptomatic screening in women are crucial to reducing the mortality associated with this disease. Since most HGSOCs typically arise from the fallopian tubes (FT), our biomarker search focused on proteins found on the surface of extracellular vesicles (EVs) released by both FT and HGSOC tissue explants and representative cell lines. Using mass spectrometry, 985 EV proteins (exo-proteins) were identified that comprised the FT/HGSOC EV core proteome. Transmembrane exo-proteins were prioritized because these could serve as antigens for capture and/or detection. With a nano-engineered microfluidic platform, six newly discovered exo-proteins (ACSL4, IGSF8, ITGA2, ITGA5, ITGB3, MYOF) plus a known HGSOC associated protein, FOLR1 exhibited classification performance ranging from 85 to 98% in a case–control study using plasma samples representative of early (including stage IA/B) and late stage (stage III) HGSOCs. Furthermore, by a linear combination of IGSF8 and ITGA5 based on logistic regression analysis, we achieved a sensitivity of 80% with 99.8% specificity and a positive predictive value of 13.8%. Importantly, these exo-proteins also can accurately discriminate between ovarian and 12 types of cancers commonly diagnosed in women. Our studies demonstrate that these lineage-associated exo-biomarkers can detect ovarian cancer with high specificity and sensitivity early and potentially while localized to the FT when patient outcomes are more favorable.

6010 Background: The efficacy of treatment for recurrent endometrial cancer (EC) remains limited. Vascular endothelial growth factor and inflammatory chemokines are proangiogenic factors and immune modulators involved in immune suppression. Reprogramming the tumor microenvironment by combining antiangiogenic and immunotherapy (IO) could enhance antitumor responses. Methods: A 2:1 randomized phase 2 trial compared the combination of cabozantinib and nivolumab (Arm A) versus nivolumab (Arm B) in recurrent EC. Primary endpoint was progression free survival (PFS) assessed by RECIST 1.1 (NCT03367741). Women with recurrent measurable EC were eligible. There were no limits on prior therapy, but at least one prior platinum-based chemotherapy was required. Patients (pts) were stratified according to MSI status and assessed by CT every 8 weeks. Cabozantinib was given at 40 mg daily (Arm A) and nivolumab at 240 mg, on D1 and D15 of a 28-day cycle for 4 cycles, followed by 480 mg every 4 weeks (Arms A & B). Pts with carcinosarcoma or prior IO were enrolled in an exploratory cohort and received combination treatment (Arm C). A baseline biopsy was required for all pts. CyTOF analysis was performed on fresh biopsies. Results: 76 evaluable pts were enrolled (Arm A: 36, Arm B: 18, Arm C: 9 carcinosarcoma, and 20 post IO including 7 pts crossed over from Arm B). 55% of pts had received ≥3 prior lines of therapy. Two pts were MSI high in Arm A and none in Arm B. The Kaplan-Meier estimated median PFS was 5.3 (95% CI: 3.5-9.5) months in Arm A and 1.9 (95% CI: 1.6-3.8) months in Arm B, with a log-rank p = 0.07, which met the significance level of 0.1 used for sample size calculation. Objective response rate (ORR) was 25% for Arm A and 16.7% for Arm B; stable disease (SD) was seen in 44.4% vs 11.1%, respectively. Clinical benefit (ORR+SD) was significantly higher in arm A vs B (p < 0.001). In Arm C-carcinosarcoma, one patient had a partial response (11.9 months duration) and four SD. In Arm C-prior IO, six pts responded and eight had SD. The most common related AEs in Arm A were diarrhea (47.2%), elevated liver enzymes (44.4%), fatigue (38.9%), anorexia, hypertension, and nausea (30.6%), mainly grade 1/2. Preliminary CyTOF analysis across treatment arms identified multiple immune subsets for further interrogation including activated CD8+ and CD4+ T cells. Conclusions: Cabozantinib plus nivolumab demonstrates improved PFS compared to nivolumab in heavily pre-treated women with recurrent EC. In-depth CyTOF analysis of the tumor microenvironment to identify predictive immune biomarkers of response is ongoing. Clinical trial information: NCT03367741.

Purpose: Mesothelin (MSLN) is highly expressed in high-grade serous/endometrioid ovarian cancers (HGOC). Anetumab ravtansine (AR) is an antibody–drug conjugate directed at the MSLN antigen with a tubulin polymerization inhibitor. We assessed the safety, activity, and pharmacokinetics of the combination AR/bevacizumab (Bev; ARB) versus weekly paclitaxel/Bev (PB) in patients with platinum-resistant/refractory HGOC (prrHGOC). Patients and Methods: Following a run-in phase I study to assess ARB safety, patients with prrHGOC with centrally confirmed MSLN-positive expression were randomized to ARB or PB (weekly paclitaxel 80 mg/m2 with Bev 10 mg/kg biweekly). Patients were stratified by platinum resistance/refractory and prior Bev. The primary endpoint was progression-free survival (PFS), and secondary endpoints were overall response rate, safety, and blood-based angiome biomarker assessment. A futility analysis was planned after 35 PFS events. Results: The combination of Bev (10 mg/kg) biweekly with AR (2.2 mg/kg) weekly was well tolerated. About phase II results, MSLN positivity was 88%, and 57 patients were randomized (28 ARB and 29 PB). Forty-two percentage of patients received prior Bev, and 23% were platinum-refractory. At futility analysis, the median PFS was 5.3 and 12.7 months for ARB and PB, respectively [P = 0.03; HR = 2.02 (1.06–3.86)]. The overall response rate was 21% with ARB and 65% with PB. The most common treatment-related grade ≥3 adverse events were anemia (18%) with ARB and neutropenia (24%) with PB. Higher baseline levels of circulating IL6 were associated with worse PFS, and its levels decreased with PB treatment. Conclusions: Our study stopped at interim analysis highlighting the benefit of PB in prrHGOC as the standard of care.

Heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) has several potential benefits. Higher doses of chemotherapy can be used with HIPEC because the plasma-peritoneal barrier results in little absorption into the blood stream. HIPEC offers higher peritoneal penetration in comparison to an intravenous (IV) regimen and does not have the traditional normothermic intraperitoneal (IP) regimen limitation of post-operative adhesions. Hyperthermia itself has cytotoxic effects and can potentiate antineoplastic effects of chemotherapy in part by increasing the depth of tumor penetration by up to 3 mm. For the treatment of ovarian cancer, HIPEC has been evaluated in the recurrent setting with secondary cytoreduction. Recent studies, including a prospective trial, have evaluated its role in primary management of ovarian cancer. This review summarizes previous and ongoing studies regarding the use of HIPEC in the management of ovarian cancer.

This study examined the impact of geographic distance on survival outcomes for patients receiving treatment for ovarian cancer at the only NCI-designated cancer center (NCI-CC) in Kansas. We identified ovarian cancer patients treated at the University of Kansas Cancer Center between 2010 and 2015. Demographic factors and clinical characteristics were abstracted. The main outcome measure was overall survival according to geographic distance from the institution. Kaplan Meier survival curves and Cox proportional hazard models were generated using SAS v9.4. 220 patients were identified. Survival analysis based on distance from the institution demonstrated that patients who lived ≤10 miles from the institution had worse overall survival (p = 0.0207) and were more likely to have suboptimal cytoreductive surgery (p = 0.0276). Lower estimated median income was also associated with a 1.54 increased risk of death, 95% CI (1.031-2.292), p = 0.0347. We determined that ovarian cancer survival disparities exist in our patient population. Lower rates of optimal cytoreductive surgery has been identified as a possible driver of poor prognosis for patients who lived in proximity to our institution.

Ovarian cancer survival depends strongly on the time of diagnosis. Detection at stage 1 must be the goal of liquid biopsies for ovarian cancer detection. We report the development and validation of graphene-based optical nanobiosensors (G-NBSs) that quantify the activities of a panel of proteases, which were selected to provide a crowd response that is specific for ovarian cancer. These G-NBSs consist of few-layer explosion graphene featuring a hydrophilic coating, which is linked to fluorescently labeled highly selective consensus sequences for the proteases of interest, as well as a fluorescent dye. The panel of G-NBSs showed statistically significant differences in protease activities when comparing localized (early-stage) ovarian cancer with both metastatic (late-stage) and healthy control groups. A hierarchical framework integrated with active learning (AL) as a prediction and analysis tool for early-stage detection of ovarian cancer was implemented, which obtained an overall accuracy score of 94.5%, with both a sensitivity and specificity of 0.94.