Chemoresponse Assay Improves Ovarian Cancer Survival Rates

A chemoresponse assay allow for the identification of chemotherapeutics that are active against the patient's disease and those that are not resulting in decreased toxicity from ineffective treatments.

Woman with recurrent ovarian cancer could benefit from having a biopsy and chemosensitivity testing which leads to personal directed therapies and improving overall survival for these patients suffering from this deadly disease.

Gynecologic oncologists at the Women & Infants Hospital (Providence RI, USA) conducted an eight-year study, which was launched in 2004, and included 283 women. Of those, 262 had successful biopsies, which were tested in vitro or in a test tube. The drug response-marker assay utilizes the fact that cells grown in culture as an adherent monolayer lift from the culture surface upon cell death.

The ChemoFx assay (Precision Therapeutics; Pittsburgh, PA, USA) tested up to 15 approved treatment regimens on the samples, identifying chemotherapy drugs and regimens to which each tumor might be sensitive. The study was noninterventional, meaning that physicians chose the treatment regimens without knowing the assay results. The scientists then evaluated the assay's result against actual patient outcomes. The assay identified at least one treatment to which the tumor would be sensitive in 52% of patients in the study. Overall, median survival was 37.5 months for patients with treatment-sensitive tumors, compared to 23.9 months for intermediate and resistant tumors.

Richard G. Moore, MD, director of the Center for Biomarkers and Emerging Technologies said, “Essentially, we have demonstrated that by using a tissue sample from the patient's tumor and a chemoresponse assay, we are able to determine which treatment may or may not work for her. This study shows that a woman with recurrent ovarian cancer could benefit from having a biopsy and chemosensitivity testing. The improvement in overall survival for these patients made this the first study in two decades to show a significant increase in survival in recurrent ovarian cancer." The study was presented at the annual meeting of Society of Gynecologic Oncology held March 9 to March 12, 2013 (Los Angeles, CA, USA).

Related Links:
Women & Infants Hospital
Precision Therapeutics