Ovarian cancer is the most fatal gynecologic cancer; in the US alone an estimated 22,000
women will be diagnosed in 2019, with over 13,000 dying of the disease. Approximately half of
epithelial ovarian cancers (EOC) exhibit defective DNA repair through alterations in the
homologous recombination (HR) pathway, with 14% accounted for by germline mutations in BRCA
genes (mBRCA); this goes up to about one in five (20%) women when one includes
tumor-associated (somatic) mBRCA.The approach to women with mBRCA-associated ovarian cancer
has heralded precision treatment in our field with the availability of PARP inhibitors. Now
indicated as treatment for women with documented mBRCA (genomic or somatic), it also has
shown significant benefits for women with recurrent EOC who respond to platinum-based therapy
when administered as maintenance treatment.