Progression-Free Survival With Olaparib (Lynparza) in SOLO-1 Study “Dramatic and Impressive”

Participants maintained survival five years later

• The study compared olaparib (brand name: Lynparza) to placebo for maintenance therapy following chemotherapy
• Progression-free survival was 60% in the olaparib group versus 27% in the placebo group
• In a five-year follow-up, survival with olaparib extended to 56 months

Over the last few years, we have been more strategically targeting ovarian cancer treatment based on a patient’s BRCA or homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) status. “We’ve seen a complete transformation in how we think about ovarian cancer,” says Dr. Stephanie Wethington, director of The Susan L. Burgert M.D. Gynecologic Oncology Survivorship Program and assistant professor in the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Johns Hopkins Medicine.

“Without a doubt, the most dramatic and impressive results that we’ve seen have been those of SOLO-1,” she tells SurvivorNet Connect. The international trial randomized nearly 400 patients to receive either olaparib (brand name: Lynparza) as maintenance therapy, or a placebo following platinum-based chemotherapy.

Progression-free survival was 60% for those who had received olaparib, versus 27% in those who had placebo—initial results that Dr. Wethington calls “incredibly remarkable.” Even more remarkable was the five-year follow-up, where progression-free survival extended to 56 months in the olaparib group, compared to 14 months for placebo.

“We really, for the first time ever, get that tingling-up-your-spine sort of a result that we have hoped for in ovarian cancer patients,” Dr. Wethington says. Though the study population represented only the subset of ovarian cancer patients with BRCA mutations, “to have such a dramatic improvement in progression-free survival was quite remarkable, and something that we can quickly bring to the bedside for our patients to benefit from.”