Women with a type of ovarian cancer that is very difficult to treat have shown remarkable results on a clinical trial testing a new combination of drugs. Almost a third (31%) of women with low-grade serous ovarian cancer, which does not respond well to chemotherapy, saw their tumours 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, with 44% of patients seeing their tumour shrink.
Experts are so excited by the latest findings that they hope the treatment will change practice globally for this type of cancer, and offer hope to women with no or few treatment options. The clinical trial on the drugs is being led by Professor Susana Banerjee, consultant medical oncologist at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and from the Institute of Cancer Research , London. She said: “These are significant results from the second phase of this trial.
“The toxicities for patients are much lower, which means 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’re now looking to recruit patients for our phase three trial and hope results will continue to show better outcomes for patients.
” The drugs being used in the trial are investigational and are being developed by biotech company Verastem Oncology. The new.
