Preliminary results for the TOPACIO trial (a Phase I/II trial) of Tesoro’s Zejula (niraparib) with Keytruda in women with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer were presented today at the 2018 Society of Gynecologic Oncology Annual Meeting.

In those women in the trial without the BRCA genetic mutation, there was a 26% response rate for the Zejula/Keytruda combination. According to Dr. Ursula A. Matulonis, MD, director, Gynecologic Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, this is an important result, as single therapeutics in this population normally garner a response rate under 10%. In the trial members with the BRCA mutation, the response rate was 29%. 

Although over 80% of women with ovarian cancer respond initially to platinum-based treatment, the majority of those with advanced ovarian cancer will eventually go on to relapse, and fail to respond to platinum-based agents. 

The TOPACIO trial is also studying the use of Zejula/Keytruda in those patients with advanced metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.