Paclitaxel and Alisertib in recurrent ovarian cancer

To the Editor: A phase 1/2 trial investigating the combination of alisertib with paclitaxel in patients with advanced breast cancer or recurrent ovarian cancer was recently published inJAMA Oncology. 1 In our opinion, the phase 2 part of the study investigating this novel combination in ovarian cancer (OC) deserves a critical discussion. Alisertib is an aurora A kinase inhibitor that demonstrates a synthetic lethality interactionwhenassociated with checkpoint kinase 1 and increased sensitivity to taxanes and platinum agents.2 In a phase 2 study exploring the activity of alisertib in platinum-resistant OC,modest singleagent activity was observed.