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A therapeutic cancer vaccine targeting hTERT didn't significantly improve survival in BRCA wild-type recurrent ovarian cancer, but subgroup data offer a glimmer of hope. In the phase 2 DOVACC trial, adding UV1 to olaparib and durvalumab extended median progression-free survival from 5.9 to 8.7 months — just short of statistical significance. Patients with HRD-negative tumors or no prior PARP inhibitor exposure appeared to benefit most.
The phase 2 DOVACC trial tested whether adding UV1 — a therapeutic cancer vaccine targeting human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) — to standard maintenance therapy could improve outcomes in patients with BRCA wild-type recurrent ovarian cancer. Across 188 patients at 27 sites, the triplet of olaparib, durvalumab, and UV1 extended median progression-free survival (PFS) from 5.9 to 8.7 months compared with olaparib alone — a clinically meaningful difference that narrowly missed statistical significance (HR, 0.83; P = .066).
While the primary endpoint wasn't met, exploratory subgroup analyses pointed to a meaningful signal: patients with HRD-negative tumors and those who hadn't previously received a PARP inhibitor showed stronger benefit from the vaccine combination. Conversely, HRD-positive or PARP inhibitor–pretreated patients saw little to no benefit, suggesting the vaccine's efficacy may be biomarker-driven.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: Outcomes remain poor for BRCA wild-type recurrent ovarian cancer patients, especially those with HRD-negative tumors. These results keep hTERT-directed vaccination on the radar as a potential immunotherapy strategy, with translational research now planned to identify which patients might truly benefit.
