Comparative Analysis of Maintenance Treatments in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Advanced Ovarian Cancer After First-Line Platinum-Based Regimens.

BACKGROUND

Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) are the standard of care for first-line maintenance in advanced ovarian cancer, but their benefit varies by BRCA and homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) status, and no head-to-head comparisons are available.

METHODS

We conducted an indirect comparison of PARPi regimens using reconstructed individual patient data (IPD) from Kaplan-Meier curves of phase III randomized trials (SOLO1, PRIMA, PAOLA1, ATHENA, FLAMES). Progression-free survival (PFS) was the primary endpoint; overall survival (OS) was exploratory. Subgroups were defined as BRCA-mutated (BRCA+), BRCA-/HRD+, and BRCA-/HRD-. Safety outcomes were assessed through a network meta-analysis of adverse drug reactions (ADRs).

RESULTS

In BRCA+ patients, olaparib + bevacizumab achieved the largest PFS improvement (HR = 0.27; 95%CI: 0.19-0.39), followed by olaparib monotherapy, while niraparib performed significantly worse. In BRCA-/HRD+, olaparib + bevacizumab was superior to niraparib and rucaparib, with restricted mean survival time (RMST) gains of 3-4 months. In BRCA-/HRD-, PARPi produced only a modest benefit, with no advantage over bevacizumab monotherapy. Exploratory OS analysis confirmed long-term survival with olaparib in BRCA+ but not in the other subgroups. Safety analysis indicated olaparib had the most favorable hematological profile, while niraparib was associated with the highest rates of severe anemia, thrombocytopenia, and neutropenia, despite showing lower gastrointestinal toxicity and fatigue incidence.

CONCLUSIONS

PARPi efficacy depends strongly on BRCA and HRD status. Olaparib-based regimens provide the greatest clinical benefit with acceptable safety in BRCA+ and HRD+ disease, whereas PARPi appear to be of limited value in HRD-negative ovarian cancer.