Summary: | Background: The prognostic factors for efficacy of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors in ovarian cancer remain unknown. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of PARP inhibitors and to explore their prognostic factors in ovarian cancer.Methods: PubMed, Embase, and conference databases were searched for relevant prospective clinical trials. The primary outcomes included overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and their prognostic factors. Secondary outcomes included PFS2, time to first subsequent therapy (TFST), time to second subsequent therapy (TSST), chemotherapy-free interval (CFI), and their prognostic factors. Hazard ratio (HR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was used as an effect measure.Results: PARP inhibitors significantly prolonged PFS in patients with ovarian cancer regardless of their BRCA and HRD status (HR = 0.44, 95% CI = 0.36–0.55). BRCA mutation, HRD-positive status, and sensitivity to platinum represented effective prognostic factors for PFS (Pinteraction < 0.01 and within-trial interaction HR < 1). Other clinicopathological factors did not predict the benefit of PFS (Pinteraction > 0.10). Moreover, PARP inhibitors significantly increased PFS2, TFST, TSST, and CFI, with significant BRCA-related differences. However, HRD-related differences could not be evaluated due to the lack of eligible studies. Furthermore, PARP inhibitors did not translate into prolonged OS, although there was a benefit associated with OS (HR = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.70–1.02). PARP inhibitors used as maintenance therapy after first or subsequent line therapy improved OS (HR = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.63–0.93).Conclusions: PARP inhibitors can significantly prolong PFS, PFS2, TFST, TSST, and CFI in ovarian cancer patients. BRCA mutation, HRD-positive status, and sensitivity to platinum are effective prognostic factors for the efficacy of PARP inhibitors. However, despite the PFS improvement, this does not translate into prolonged OS for patients.
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