Ovarian Carcinosarcoma

Carcinosarcomas (CS) (malignant mixed Müllerian tumors) are highly aggressive and rare tumors with a worldwide annual incidence between 0.5-3.3 cases/100.000 women. Gynecological CS, i.e. ovarian CS (OCS) and uterine CS (UCS), have a 5-year overall survival (OS) \< 10% and a poor prognosis. After initial treatment (surgery +/- adjuvant radiotherapies +/- chemotherapies (CT)), vast majority of patients relapsed and received diverse CT producing modest benefits, and nearly all patients will die. After first line CT including platinum salt, monotherapy (doxorubicin or paclitaxel) is frequently used for relapsed patients, but the response rate (RR) is \<20%, progression-free survival (PFS) \<4 months, and OS \<1 year. In this unmet need situation, a better knowledge of these aggressive neoplasms is essential to propose new therapeutic options.

This phase II trial studies the effect of APL-2 when given in combination with either pembrolizumab or pembrolizumab and bevacizumab compared with bevacizumab alone in treating patients with ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer that has come back (recurrent) and a buildup of fluid and cancer cells (malignant effusion). APL-2 may limit tumor progression, decrease malignant effusion production, and improve the immune system's response against cancer cells. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as pembrolizumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Bevacizumab is a monoclonal antibody that may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Giving APL-2 together with either pembrolizumab or pembrolizumab and bevacizumab may work better in treating patients with ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer and malignant effusion compared to bevacizumab alone.

This is a first-in-human phase I/II study to examine the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of VLS-1488 in subjects with advanced cancers.

The EPOCH study population is patients with tubo-ovarian carcinosarcoma or uterine carcinosarcoma with evidence of recurrence or progression. The study aims to determine the activity of eribulin as a single agent and the combination of eribulin and pembrolizumab as measured by clinical benefit rate (CBR) at 12 weeks. Additionally, the study aims to establish whether high mobility group A2 (HMGA2) protein expression is a good functional biomarker to predict response to eribulin and pembrolizumab.