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Emerging serine-threonine kinase inhibitors for treating ovarian cancer

Asaf Maoz1, Marcia A Ciccone2,3, Shinya Matsuzaki2

  • 1Department of Internal Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.

Expert Opinion on Emerging Drugs
|November 23, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Serine threonine kinase (STK) inhibitors show limited efficacy as single agents for ovarian cancer. Combination therapies may offer improved outcomes, but further research is needed to identify patient subsets benefiting from these targeted treatments.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Pharmacology
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Ovarian cancer is a leading cause of gynecologic cancer mortality, often presenting with incurable, recurrent disease.
  • Serine threonine kinases (STKs) are implicated in cancer initiation and progression, making them potential therapeutic targets.
  • STK inhibitors have shown activity in non-ovarian cancers with specific molecular alterations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review serine threonine kinase (STK) inhibitors in active Phase II/III clinical trials for ovarian cancer.
  • To explore available efficacy and safety data for these investigational compounds.
  • To provide expert opinion on the potential role of STK inhibitors in ovarian cancer treatment.

Main Methods:

  • Systematic search of PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov for STK inhibitor trials in ovarian cancer.
  • Confirmation of active development status via Pharmaprojects.
  • Exploration of published efficacy and safety data.

Main Results:

  • STK inhibitors in development demonstrate modest activity as single agents.
  • Current data suggest STK inhibitors are unlikely to gain approval as monotherapy for unselected ovarian cancer patients.
  • Combination trials indicate an acceptable efficacy/toxicity ratio for certain combinations, requiring confirmatory studies.

Conclusions:

  • STK inhibitors are unlikely to be approved as monotherapy for unselected ovarian cancer patients due to modest activity.
  • Combination strategies with chemotherapy and/or targeted therapies show promise but require further validation.
  • Future trials incorporating molecular analysis are crucial for identifying patient subsets likely to benefit from STK inhibitors in precision oncology.
Keywords:
AKT inhibitorATR inhibitorCDK inhibitorMAPK inhibitorMEK inhibitorOvarian cancerSTK inhibitoraurora kinase inhibitorserine-threonine kinase inhibitor

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