Exploring the ARTISTRY-7 Trial of Nemvaleukin Alfa in Ovarian Cancer With Noelle Cloven, MD

Oncology Data Advisor: Welcome to Oncology Data Advisor. Today, we're here at the ASCO Annual Meeting, and I'm joined by Dr. Noelle Cloven. Thanks much for coming on today.

Noelle Cloven, MD: Thanks for having me.

Oncology Data Advisor: Would you like to introduce yourself and share what your work focus is on?

Dr. Cloven: My name is Noelle Gillette Cloven. I'm a Gynecologic Oncologist, and I work with the Sarah Cannon Research Institute at Texas Oncology, and my focus is on treating women with gynecologic cancers and clinical trials.

Oncology Data Advisor: We're talking today about the ARTISTRY-7 trial of nemvaleukin alfa in combination with pembrolizumab for platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer. Just for some background, why is this an important study for patients with these diseases?

Dr. Cloven: Patients with ovarian cancer who are platinum-resistant represent a high unmet need. These are patients that have had multiple lines of treatment. The response rates are relatively low in this group of patients, and it's generally thought to be incurable.

Oncology Data Advisor: Since this is an ongoing study, what have the results so far shown?

Dr. Cloven: Well, it's early on. There have been some smaller studies that led up to this study that showed good responses using nemvaleukin combined with pembrolizumab, which is another immunotherapy drug in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer. This is a trial that is looking at chemotherapy versus immunotherapy. So, there are four arms to this trial. One is nemvaleukin alone, and the other is pembrolizumab alone. There's a combination arm using nemvaleukin and pembrolizumab, and then versus investigators choice chemotherapy. It's important, since chemotherapy has low response rates in these patients, to find something new. We're trying to look for a way to use immunotherapy since it's been so successful in other gynecologic cancers.

Oncology Data Advisor: Definitely. As the trial progresses, how do you foresee that this treatment will fit into the landscape one day?

Dr. Cloven: Well, this trial is unique in that it allows patients with up to five prior treatments after progression within six months of platinum therapy. And it also allows some patients with rare subtypes of ovarian cancer, including clear cell ovarian cancer. So, hopefully, as the trial progresses and we know more, this could potentially be a treatment option for these patients.

Oncology Data Advisor: Great. Do you foresee the combination therapy moving into earlier lines of treatment as well?

Dr. Cloven: I don't know. I guess we'll just have to see. Right now, it's really complicated what's going on. We're making more progress than we ever have in ovarian cancer, and they just presented data of a front-line therapy ovarian cancer, looking at immunotherapy combined with poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors and bevacizumab as maintenance therapy.

That was some exciting news. That was the first immunotherapy trial to show a benefit in frontline ovarian cancer. So, it's definitely possible.

Oncology Data Advisor: Definitely. Have there been any toxicities observed with the regimen so far?

Dr. Cloven: Yes, it does have toxicity since it targets interleukin-2 (IL-2), so patients can have nausea and vomiting, fever, and chills.

Oncology Data Advisor: Anything else you'd like to mention about the trial or about other trials in gynecologic cancers that you've seen here?

Dr. Cloven: Well, like I said, it's early on enrollment, so we have sites across the country. It's also an international trial, so if you have a patient that has recurrent platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, please consider this trial.

Oncology Data Advisor: Good to know. One last question I'll ask you is, since the theme of ASCO this year is "Partnering with Patients," do you have any examples of how you partner with patients in your practice with gynecologic cancers?

Dr. Cloven: Well, I think patients are more involved in their care than ever. I think more people are becoming advocates for themselves, so just make patients aware of what clinical trials are available, as well as standard treatments, just so they know all of their options before they start a new treatment. Also, the schedule and the side effects and quality of life are going to be things that are very important for our patients moving forward.

Oncology Data Advisor: Definitely. Well, it was great to hear about this trial, so thank you so much for talking about it today.

Dr. Cloven: You're welcome.

About Dr. Cloven

Noelle Gillette Cloven is a Gynecologic Oncologist at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute at Texas Oncology where she treats patients with cervical, endometrial or uterine, ovarian, vulvar, and vaginal cancers. Dr. Cloven's research interests revolve around gynecologic cancers, where she remains active in clinical trials through the US Oncology Research Network and the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) Foundation.

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Transcript edited for clarity. Any views expressed above are the speaker's own and do not necessarily reflect those of Oncology Data Advisor.