Hope for women with rare ovarian cancer as new drug combo is shown to shrink tumours
There is hope for women with a rare form of ovarian cancer after a clinical trial found a new combination of drugs can reduce the size of tumors.
Nearly a third (31%) of women with low-grade serous ovarian cancer, which does not respond well to chemotherapy, saw their tumors shrink or stop growing when using a combination of avutometinib and defactinib.
The results in patients with a mutation in a gene called KRAS were even more promising: 44% of patients saw their tumors shrink.
Experts are so excited about the latest findings that they hope the treatment will change the practice of this type of cancer worldwide and offer hope to women with no or few treatment options.
The clinical trial of the drugs is led by Professor Susana Banerjee, consultant medical oncologist at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and at the Institute of Cancer Research, London.
Experts hope the treatment will change the practice of this type of cancer worldwide and provide hope to women with no or few treatment options (File)
She said: ‘These are significant results from the second phase of this trial.
‘The toxicities for patients are much lower, meaning side effects are fewer than with some conventional treatments.
‘The combination of avutometinib and defactinib promises a new standard of care for people with recurrent low-grade serous ovarian cancer.
‘We are now recruiting patients for our phase three trial and hope the results will continue to deliver better outcomes for patients.’
The drugs used in the trial are under investigation and being developed by biotech company Verastem Oncology.
The Disaster 201 study results, shared with the PA news agency, were presented at the International Gynecological Cancer Society meeting in Dublin on Thursday.
They showed that among 115 people with low-grade serous ovarian cancer, 31% saw their tumors shrink or stop growing with the drugs, compared with 10% or less response to chemotherapy or hormone therapies.
Drugs used in the trial are being developed by Verastem Oncology (File)
Low-grade serous ovarian cancer is a rare subtype of ovarian cancer, which more often affects younger women and is more resistant to chemotherapy than other types.
Many people are diagnosed when the cancer has spread, and more than 70% see their cancer come back even after standard treatment.
Both avutometinib and defactinib work by blocking signals that encourage cancer cells to grow.
In the trial, only 10% of patients quit, meaning most were able to tolerate the drugs and any side effects.