Laboratory-Directed Treatment Improves Response and Survival for Patients with Recurrent Ovarian Cancer
Long Beach, Calif. / New Orleans (ASCO Annual Meeting) -- For Release Saturday, May 20, 2000 --
Researchers at Rational Therapeutics™ (Long Beach, Calif.), in collaboration with investigators from Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York and the University of California at Irvine, report that women with advanced, heavily pre-treated ovarian cancer benefited from laboratory-directed therapy performed with the EVA-PCD™ (Ex-Vivo Apoptotic) assay. Study results on this new and highly effective method for treating ovarian cancer were reported today at the 36th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in New Orleans.
The study (titled "EVA-PCD™ ® Assay-Directed Therapy of Advanced Ovarian Cancer" -- ASCO Abstract #1532) is authored by a research team led by Robert Nagourney, M.D., medical director of Rational Therapeutics™ and a clinical faculty member of the University of California at Irvine.
In the study, 38 patients with advanced ovarian cancers were treated with chemotherapy combinations that were specifically "tailored" to each patient's unique profile of drug sensitivity. Focusing on the 35 patients who had relapsed after first-line therapy, the physicians report an overall response rate of 54%. Responses were seen in 2nd, 3rd, and even 6th line therapy (i.e., patients who had relapsed after 5 prior forms of chemotherapy). Even more compelling were the improvements in duration of response and survival as compared with recent published experience in this disease.
"What makes this so exciting is our ability to provide good outcomes for patients, many of whom had virtually no other options," said Dr. Nagourney. By using the EVA-PCD™ assay, which matches patients to active drugs in the test-tube, treatment combinations were identified that otherwise would not have been considered. "Without needing to invent a single new drug, we achieved these results by using available drugs more effectively," Dr. Nagourney added.
Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of gynecologic cancer death and the fourth leading cause of cancer death in women with 23,000 new cases diagnosed in the U.S. each year. Despite advances in newly diagnosed ovarian cancer, there has been little progress in relapsed ovarian cancer in several decades. "Our ability to improve the outcome for this group of patients suggests that laboratory-based approaches may hold real promise in future treatment strategies," said Dr. Nagourney, whose laboratory tested the cancer specimens.
About Rational Therapeutics™ Rational Therapeutics™ is a pioneering cancer research center specializing in new treatment protocols and individualized therapy. Its research laboratory is located at 750 E. 29th Street, Long Beach, CA 90806; Tel. (562) 989-6455; Fax (562) 989-6454; www.rationaltherapeutics.com.
|