Former champion billiards player Jeanette Lee, 53, is living with stage 4 ovarian cancer and manages by taking Lynparza. She’s now promoting her new memoir, which highlights the mother of three’s rise as a renowned pool player and cancer.
Ovarian cancer is often harder to catch in its early stages because of its subtle symptoms, such as bloating, weight gain, and abdominal pain that can mimic regular menstrual cycle fluctuations. After ovarian cancer patients complete initial treatment, maintenance therapy may be recommended to try and delay possible recurrence.
Maintenance therapy for ovarian cancer can involve taking an oral pill called a PARP inhibitor every day after chemotherapy and can keep cancer in remission longer. PARP inhibitors prevent cancer cells from repairing their DNA.
Elahere (molecular name mirvetuximab) is an FDA-approved targeted therapy providing much-needed hope for patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer (Your cancer returns within six months of treatment with platinum-based chemotherapies, like carboplatin and cisplatin.) This drug treatment is for women who test positive for a molecular factor called folate-receptor alpha (FRα).
Ovarian cancer recurrence happens in “almost 25 percent of cases with early-stage diseases and in more than 80 percent with more advanced stages,” according to research published in Gland Surgery medical journal.
Genetic testing helps doctors determine the most effective maintenance therapy.
Champion billiards player Jeanette Lee, 53, known as the “Black Widow” for her remarkable ability to dominate her opponents during pool matches, is living with stage 4 ovarian cancer. She was diagnosed in early 2021, and her cancer journey plays a vital part in her newly released memoir, which she’s now promoting across the country.
“My goal this year is to focus on building my body and mind strength,” Lee said in an Instagram post.
“Earlier this year, I learned the hard way that my body wasn’t ready to work as hard or as much as my mind wanted to. My weakness, pain, lack of stamina, both mentally and physically, is something I’m working on as aggressively as I can, SAFELY,” Lee added.
“Black Widow” Jeanette Lee is a renowned pool player who became a world champion in the sport by the time she turned 24. The Korean-American had dealt with years of chronic pains since she was young before her cancer diagnosis. She had metal rods put on her back as a child to aid her scoliosis diagnosis. She then dealt with bursitis (a painful condition stemming from inflamed joints), pseudoarthrosis (a condition causing bones not to fuse properly), and ankylosing spondylitis (chronic inflammatory disease).
She’s managed to cope with multiple surgeries and debilitating pain over the years. Despite her health conditions, she still managed to excel at pool.
Courtesy of Jeanette Lee’s Instagram.
“I was getting stabbing pains…I handled it because I didn’t know how to quit…I had to play pool,” Lee previously told WTVT news.
However, her life took another turn in February when she was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer. Her diagnosis came about after she developed a sepsis infection. While undergoing tests, doctors discovered fluid buildup between Lee’s lungs and chest. Further tests revealed cancerous cells that originated from her uterus or ovaries, and they metastasized (spread) to her abdomen, liver, and peritoneum (abdominal cavity).
Shortly after Lee was given a stage 4 ovarian cancer diagnosis, she began treatment, beginning with chemotherapy.
“Stage 4 ovarian cancer, the odds are not great,” Lee said during a Facebook post at the time.
“But I feel like if I went by the odds of me becoming No. 1, I never would have become a world champion.
The Black Widow Jeanette Lee, at the height of her fame in 2005
According to the Victory Over Cancer Foundation, Lee’s treatment includes the chemo drug Lynparza, taken twice a day.
“I’m on this drug called Lynparza, which is a chemotherapy. I take two pills twice a day, and I’ll take it for life. I don’t believe that drug was available years ago, but through cancer research, there are drugs like Lynparza, which has 100 percent, I’m convinced, allowed the cancer to stay away and not return,” Lee said.
WATCH: How your ovarian cancer responds to certain types of chemotherapies guides your future treatments.
Understanding Metastatic Ovarian Cancer
Ovarian cancer has been called the “cancer that whispers” because women often don’t experience symptoms until their cancer has already reached its late stages. The symptoms that do appear at first are hard to identify as cancer.
“Ovarian cancer does not have any specific symptoms,” Dr. Beth Karlan, a gynecologic oncologist at UCLA Medical Center, told SurvivorNet.
The symptoms of ovarian cancer may include the following, according to SurvivorNet experts.
A feeling of bloating or fullness
Pain in the pelvis or abdomen
Nausea
Vomiting
Changes in bowel habits
WATCH: Treating ovarian cancer.
The standard of care for ovarian cancer patients is chemotherapy, which helps many patients reach remission.
Ovarian cancer is sub-categorized into two groups.
Platinum-Sensitive Ovarian Cancer: Cancer does not return for more than six months after treatment with platinum-based chemotherapies, like carboplatin and cisplatin.
Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer: Cancer returns within six months of treatment with platinum-based chemotherapies, like carboplatin and cisplatin.
“The mechanism that causes platinum resistance will cause someone to be resistant to other chemotherapies, as well. That’s why we’re looking for what we call targeted therapies — precision medicine,” Dr. Noelle Cloven from Texas Oncology-Fort Worth Cancer Center explained.
Ovarian cancer recurrence happens in “almost 25 percent of cases with early-stage diseases and in more than 80 percent with more advanced stages,” according to research published in Gland Surgery medical journal. With recurrence a strong possibility for this disease, especially in the later stages of ovarian cancer, certain drug treatments to deal with it are giving many women hope.
Having too much folate makes the cancer grow and spread. It often causes the cancer cells to become platinum-resistant, meaning the cancer stops responding to chemotherapies that use platinum drugs.
The US Food and Drug Administration fully approved Elahere because it significantly benefitted patients in the phase 3 MIRASOL Study.
Elahere is part of a class of drugs known as an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC). It works by attaching to FRα in the cancer cells. This attachment blocks FRα from receiving signals that tell the cancer cells to grow and divide. As a result, the cancer cells can’t multiply as quickly, slowing down their growth. By blocking FRα, Elahere prevents the cancer cells from absorbing folate, which they need to grow. Without folate, the cancer cells become weaker and less able to spread to other body parts.
Elahere is known to cause some eye-related side effects, which may include:
Blurred vision
Dry eyes (also known as keratoconjunctivitis sicca or dry eye syndrome)
Sensitivity to light
Eye pain
Changes in vision
Uveitis (inflammation of the eye)
Some other possible side effects may include:
Fatigue
Elevated liver enzymes
Nausea or abdominal pain
Reduced red or white blood cell counts
Diarrhea or constipation
Lower blood albumin levels
Reduced blood magnesium levels
Maintenance Therapy for Ovarian Cancer
Maintenance therapy is continued treatment after the patient finishes their initial treatment. After an ovarian cancer patient completes a round of treatments — such as surgery and chemotherapy — her doctor may recommend some form of maintenance therapy to try and delay possible recurrence. Maintenance therapy can involve taking an oral pill called a PARP inhibitor every day after chemotherapy and can keep cancer in remission longer.
Genetic testing helps doctors determine the best maintenance therapy.
“The biggest question is: How do you choose between bevacizumab (brand name, Avastin) or a PARP inhibitor for maintenance therapy?” Dr. Alpa Nick, a gynecological oncologist with Tennessee Oncology in Nashville, explained to SurvivorNet. Genetic testing can help doctors narrow down which treatments are better options.
The drugs combat cancer cells in very different ways. PARP inhibitors prevent cancer cells from repairing their DNA, while Avastin blocks the formation of new blood vessels, starving tumors of nutrients.
The Food and Drug Administration approved bevacizumab (Avastin) to be used in conjunction with olaparib (brand name LYNPARZA) in HRD (Homologous Recombination Deficiency) positive women who show a response to platinum-based chemotherapy. During clinical trials, the drug combination increased progression-free survival from an average of 17 months to 37 months.
“A patient really has to make a decision upfront, or near the beginning of their treatment, that they want bevacizumab maintenance treatment because they’ll have it with their primary chemotherapy,” Dr. Nick explained.
The drug is administered intravenously and can be given in combination with other chemotherapy drugs. Avastin affects the growth of blood vessels, starving tumors of the blood they need as nourishment.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) guidelines recommend PARP inhibitors be offered to women, with or without genetic mutations, who are newly diagnosed with stage III or IV ovarian cancer and have improved with chemotherapy.
Surgery offers another important decision point. “When patients have their surgery, we can test their tumor to decide if their tumor has a homologous recombination deficiency,” known as HRD. If it does, that also suggests they would benefit from PARP inhibitor maintenance therapy,” said Dr. Nick.
Elahere (molecular name mirvetuximab) is an FDA-approved targeted therapy that provides much-needed hope for patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. This drug treatment is for women who test positive for a molecular factor called folate receptor alpha (FRα). While many ovarian cancers test positive for the folate receptor, to be eligible for Elahere, you must have very high levels (>75%) of the folate receptor-alpha (FRα).
It is an antibody-drug conjugate. This kind of new anti-cancer drugs, known as “biological missiles,” is leading a new era of targeted cancer therapy.
The antibody part of the drug conjugates binds to the folate receptor on the tumor cells, and then that gets taken up into the tumor cell. The drug that it conjugates with kills the tumor cells by affecting the tumor cell’s ability to divide.
Questions for Your Doctor
If you have been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and need guidance to further educate yourself on the disease and treatment, consider these questions for your doctor.
What type of ovarian cancer do I have?
What stage is my cancer in?
Do you recommend I get genetic testing for any gene mutations, such as the BRCA gene mutation?
What initial treatment options do you recommend?
What are the possible side effects of the recommended treatment, and how can they be coped with?
Will insurance help cover my recommended treatment?
