Associate Professor Tarek Meniawy, Chair of the ANZGOG Ovarian Tumour Working Group, shares updates from the recent meeting of ANZGOG researchers, discussing new and ongoing ovarian cancer therapy studies.

Associate Professor Tarek Meniawy is a medical oncologist who subspecialises in melanoma, gynaecological cancers as well as early-phase clinical trials. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at Edith Cowan University and a Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Western Australia, where he was awarded a PhD degree in 2016. Assoc Prof. Meniawy is an ANZGOG Director, Chair of the ANZGOG Ovarian Tumour Working Group and serves on the Research Advisory Committee and OASIS Steering Committee.

“The second Ovarian Tumour Working Group meeting for 2020 was held virtually on 8th October 2020. We discussed progress on ANZGOG studies in development and approaching start-up including PARAGON2, a basket study that includes a wide range of hormone therapy responsive cancers, HyNOVA (intra-peritoneal heated chemotherapy in ovarian cancer), as well as ongoing studies including iPRIME, IGNITE and PRECISE. We have a broad range of exciting studies underway and upcoming, as well as new trials being submitted for grant funding including OSBS2, ALEGRO (targeted therapy in low grade serous ovarian cancer), EPOCH (immunotherapy in gynaecological sarcoma), and ENDEAR (immunotherapy in recurrent ovarian cancer). We also discussed a new concept for a registry study for mucinous ovarian cancer.

Over the last two meetings, we have been discussing options to identify gaps in research in ovarian cancer and proposed the development of focus groups to specifically discuss specialised areas of research or challenging questions that require further study. We plan to hold a further meeting in December that will be focussed on 1-2 areas, and we look forward to the ongoing engagement with our diverse membership.”

To find out more about ANZGOG’s committees, click here.

Since our beginning in 2000, ANZGOG has conducted 37 clinical trial studies, with close to 4000 patients participating in these trials. ANZGOG currently has 13 open trials. To find out more, please visit our trials page.