There is hope for women with a rare type of ovarian cancer after a clinical trial showed a new drug combination can shrink the 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 taking a combination of avutometinib and defactinib.
The results in patients who had a mutation in a gene called KRAS were even more promising: 44% of patients saw their tumor shrink.
Experts are so excited about the latest findings that they hope the treatment will change global practice for this type of cancer and offer hope to women who have few or no treatment options.
The clinical trial of the drugs is led by Professor Susana Banerjee, a consultant medical oncologist at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and the Institute of Cancer Research, London.
Experts hope the treatment will change global practice for this type of cancer and offer hope to women with few or no treatment options (File)
She said: ‘These are significant results from the second phase of this trial.
‘The toxicities for patients are much lower, meaning that side effects are less 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 looking to recruit patients for our phase three trial and hope the results continue to show improved outcomes for patients.”
The drugs used in the trial are investigational and are being developed by the biotechnology company Verastem Oncology.
The results of the Ramp 201 study, shared with the PA news agency, were presented on Thursday at the International Gynecological Cancer Society meeting in Dublin.
They showed that in 115 people with low-grade serous ovarian cancer, 31% saw their tumors shrink or stop growing with the drugs, compared with 10% or a lower response rate to chemotherapy or hormonal therapies. .
Verastem Oncology is developing the drugs used in the trial (File)
Low-grade serous ovarian cancer is a rare subtype of ovarian cancer, which is more likely to affect 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 the cancer return even after standard treatment.
Both avutometinib and defactinib work by blocking signals that stimulate cancer cell growth.
In the trial, only 10% of patients stopped smoking, meaning that most were able to tolerate the medications and any side effects.
