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Mayo Clinic gynecologic cancer specialists Jamie N. Bakkum-Gamez, M.D. and John Weroha, M.D., Ph.D. discuss the signs and symptoms women should be aware of for detection of ovarian cancer, understanding treatment options, and the importance of new clinical trials. Mayo Clinic medical geneticist Myra J. Wick, M.D., Ph.D. discusses the importance of family history and genetic counseling in preventing ovarian cancer. A live question and answer session followed the presentation. You can still ask questions using the chat box to the right. Speakers include: - Jamie N. Bakkum-Gamez, M.D. - John Weroha, M.D., Ph.D. - Myra J. Wick, M.D., Ph.D. Would you like to: Request An Appointment Learn More About Ovarian Cancer
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At Mayo there is currently a vaccine trial open (MC1361; clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT02111941) for women who have completed radical surgery, chemotherapy and have no evidence of active cancer. For more details, please visit: http://www.mayo.edu/research/clinical-trials/cls-20110798).
Yes. Ovarian cancer symptoms can be vague even in advanced disease. Let your doctor know about your concerns.
Your oncologist has probably pointed out that hormonal therapies as single-agents have limited activity. I typically do not use these drugs in ovarian cancer. That said, I agree with the philosophy that we should not let the treatment be worse than the disease. If there are no symptoms, there is no rush to start chemotherapy. Tamoxifen or femara treatments are generally well tolerated and if cost isn’t an issue, you might prefer this treatment over watchful-waiting.
If your mother is able to travel and is interested in a trial, we are combining letrozole (hormone blocker) with everolimus (a drug that we hope will prevent resistance to letrozole) in ovarian cancer patients who have ER-positive tumors. More information is available at
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT02283658
Yes. However, testing is most informative when done on an affected family member. There may be difficulties with insurance coverage in this situation.
If you enrolled in Mayo’s tissue/blood repository for ovarian cancer when you had your surgery, a portion of your tumor was retained for research purposes. The contact person and phone number for more information is on your informed consent form. You can also contact the study coordinator through Mayo’s Cancer Center Clinical Trial Office at 855-776-0015 (toll-free) or at http://www.mayo.edu/research/clinical-trials.
If you signed consent in 2014 or 2015, we are working hard to include as many patients as possible. If everything works out as I hope, someone may contact you about the Ovatar trial if certain criteria are met.
There are several clinical studies available for women with ovarian cancer. For a list of available trials at Mayo Clinic and more details on eligibility criteria, please see: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/ovarian-cancer/care-at-mayo-clinic/clinical-trials/con-20028096.
There is a clinical trial open at Mayo (MC1464; clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT02283658) for women with recurrent ovarian cancer. This is a phase II study in which women with hormone receptor positive ovarian cancer are treated with everolimus and letrozole. As part of the study, an Avatar is made. The Avatar in this study is not used to predict response to other chemotherapies; it is used to better understand the response of the woman’s cancer to the study drugs—everolimus and letrozole. More details on this study can be found at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02283658?term=MC1464&rank=1.
You may consider clinical cancer panel testing, which is available through some commercial laboratories. There are also researchers at Mayo studying other genes and mutations in those genes. Results of research studies are often not returned to the patients.
Recommend consultation with genetics professional to review family history review your risk.
Dietary risk factors have not been identified for ovarian cancer.
There is risk from both sides of the family. Are any of the paternal aunts available for testing? Testing of an affected paternal aunt would be most informative for assessing paternal side of the family. Also recommend that your mother have BRCA1/2 testing, since she has a personal history of ovarian cancer.