PARP Inhibition as Ovarian Cancer Maintenance Therapy: Improving Patient Outcomes as a Multidisciplinary Team

Jointly provided by

Support for this activity has been provided through educational grants from AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals and Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.

Release date: 10/25/2023

Expiration date:  10/25/2024

Estimated time to complete: 0.5 hour

Overview

Ovarian cancer (OC) is often diagnosed at an advanced stage and has generally poor survival rates—even after aggressive surgical management and chemotherapy. Without maintenance therapy, approximately 70% of patients relapse within 3 years of treatment. Recent clinical trials of polyadenosine diphosphate-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors have demonstrated substantial efficacy as maintenance therapy for OC patients. Additionally, clinical evidence suggests that daily monitoring of patients receiving maintenance therapy by a multidisciplinary team is essential to treatment success and a better quality of life. However, studies have also shown that a number of practice gaps continue to compromise OC patient care, including failure to offer PARP inhibitors as maintenance therapy, low confidence in managing the adverse events (AEs) associated with PARP inhibitor therapy, and inconsistencies in the delivery of guideline-directed care and multidisciplinary management.

This activity has been developed to review guideline-recommended PARP inhibitor maintenance therapies for patients with OC and to provide strategies for effectively managing treatment-related AEs.

Faculty

Michael J. Birrer, MD, PhD
Director, Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Little Rock, Arkansas

Ursula A. Matulonis, MD
Chief, Division of Gynecologic Oncology
Brock-Wilson Family Chair
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts

Target Audience

This activity has been designed to meet the educational needs of oncologists, radiologists, surgeons, oncology nurses, and other health care providers involved in the care of OC patients.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants should be better able to:

  • Individualize OC maintenance therapy with PARP inhibitors following first-line or recurrent therapy as indicated by current clinical evidence
  • Implement a multidisciplinary approach to the monitoring, prevention, and management of PARP inhibitor–related AEs

Accreditation and Credit Designation

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the University of Cincinnati and RedMedEd. The University of Cincinnati is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The University of Cincinnati designates this enduring material for a maximum of 0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC)

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 0.5 MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit.

Additional information will be collected from participants claiming MOC credit, including their ABIM registration number and birth date (mm/dd). MOC participant data will be uploaded to the ACCME PARS system by the University of Cincinnati, which will automatically transmit the data to ABIM.

Disclosure

In accordance with the ACCME Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education and the University of Cincinnati policy, all faculty, planning committee members, and other individuals who are in a position to control content are required to disclose all relationships with ineligible companies (commercial interests) within the last 24 months. All educational materials are reviewed for fair balance, scientific objectivity, and levels of evidence. The ACCME requires us to disqualify from involvement in the planning and implementation of accredited continuing education any individuals (1) who refuse to provide this information or (2) whose conflicts of interests cannot be mitigated.

All of the relevant financial relationships listed for these individuals have been mitigated. The following disclosures were made:

Michael J. Birrer, MD, PhD, has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:
Advisor: AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Clovis Oncology, GlaxoSmithKline

Ursula A. Matulonis, MD, has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:
Advisory Board: Agenus, Allarity Therapeutics, Eisai, GlaxoSmithKline, ImmunoGen, NextCure, Novartis, Pfizer, ProfoundBio, Trillium
Ad Board: Boehringer Ingelheim, CureLab Oncology, MorphoSys
Consulting: AstraZeneca, Merck
Data and Safety Monitoring Boards: Alkermes, Symphogen
Scientific Advisory Board: Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance

University of Cincinnati
Faculty and staff involved in the development and review of this activity have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

Staff Reviewer
Robert V. Ellis, MD
Associate Professor of Clinical, Physician Reviewer
Department of Family & Community Medicine
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Cincinnati, Ohio

Dr. Ellis has reported no relevant financial relationships.

RedMedEd
The RedMedEd planners have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

Unapproved Product Use

This educational activity may contain discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the US Food and Drug Administration. The University of Cincinnati, RedMedEd, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, and Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp do not recommend the use of any agent outside the labeled indications.

Disclaimer

The information presented in this activity is for continuing medical education purposes only and is not meant to substitute for the independent medical judgment of a physician regarding diagnosis and treatment of a specific patient’s medical condition.

The opinions expressed in this educational activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of the University of Cincinnati, RedMedEd, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, and Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings.

Method of Participation

There are no fees to participate in the activity. Participants must review all activity information, including the learning objectives, disclosure statements, and content. To receive credit for participation, participants must complete the posttest and program evaluation. Certificates can be printed immediately.

Contact Information

For questions regarding credit, contact University of Cincinnati at uc-cloudcme@ucmail.uc.edu.
For technical questions related to this activity, please contact RedMedEd at education@redmeded.com.

Hardware/Software Requirements

  • iPad, iPad Mini (iPadOS 15 or higher), iPhone (iOS 15 or higher), or Android device (OS 11 or higher) with an Internet connection
    • Internet browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Safari
  • A computer with an Internet connection
    • Internet browsers (PC): Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge
    • Internet browsers (Mac): Chrome, Firefox, Safari

Privacy

This website is managed by RedMedEd, and RedMedEd’s printed privacy policy applies to this site. CME credit for this activity is provided by the University of Cincinnati. If you register for CME credit for this educational activity, RedMedEd will forward relevant personally identifiable information to the University of Cincinnati so that records can be maintained concerning any credits issued to you. Aggregated data concerning registrations, posttests, and evaluations may be shared, but RedMedEd will not knowingly share any personally identifiable information. The information you provide on this site may be used to contact you about your CME credit or other relevant educational activities provided through the University of Cincinnati or RedMedEd. For more information, contact uc-cloudcme@ucmail.uc.edu or education@redmeded.com.

For more information about the privacy policy of the University of Cincinnati, please visit https://uc.cloud-cme.com.

Copyright

© 2023. This CME/CE-certified program is held as copyrighted by the University of Cincinnati and RedMedEd. Through this notice, the University of Cincinnati and RedMedEd grant permission of its use for educational purposes only. These materials may not be used, in whole or in part, for any commercial purposes without prior permission in writing from the copyright owners.