[2022-12-13] Quarterly oncology follow-up December 2022
Dr. Dalal from The Ottawa Hospital Gynecologic Oncology Department called today for my quarterly check-in. She asked a series of questions to determine whether I was experiencing any symptoms linked to ovarian cancer or any issues with my maintenance drug (olaparib): loss of appetite or nausea, changes in bowel or urinary habits, abdominal pain or bloating, vaginal bleeding or abnormal discharge, chest pain or shortness of breath? My answers were consistent across the board: no.
She asked whether I had any concerns. "Hmm," I thought for a moment, then added, "no." Isn't that the best kind of answer to have?
I told Dr. Dalal that I have all the energy I want, and that I can do all the things I want to do. I don't appear to be having any side effects from the olaparib, beyond those I experienced in the first few months on the maintenance drug.
My next appointment will be in person in February, at which point I will have been on olaparib for two years. Dr. Dalal noted that if I stop taking the drug at that point, given that the current evidence for the drug is for two years, I may still enjoy a long-term, sustained response. She added that people who respond well to the drug—and I appear to be such a person—can have a prolonged response. In her after-care report, Dr. Dalal noted that this prolonged response can be up to seven years for patients with a mutation in their BRCA gene, which I have.
Curious, I did a search for more information on prolonged response to olaparib following treatment for ovarian cancer among people with a BRCA mutation. I came across this page, published in September 2022: Long-Term Follow-Up Supports Olaparib Maintenance Therapy Use in Newly Diagnosed Advanced, BRCA+ Ovarian Cancer. The results of a 7-year follow-up study "support maintenance olaparib to achieve long-term remission in women with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer."
Dr. Paul A. DiSilvestro—director of the Program in Women’s Oncology for Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island and Care New England Health System, and division director of gynecologic oncology in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University)—said in presenting the data: "These results support the use of maintenance olaparib to achieve long-term remission in women with newly diagnosed advanced ovarian cancer and a BRCA mutation. The potential for cure may also be enhanced." He added, "These 7-year results provide further confirmation that the benefit of maintenance olaparib extends well beyond its 2-year treatment cap."
This corroborates what Dr. Dalal said to me, namely, that olaparib can have a residual effect years after patients cease taking the drug.
I rarely go looking for information on ovarian cancer—including its treatment and statistics on the disease—but this very recent and very promising research is pretty awesome.
