|
Intraperitoneal chemotherapy found
to improve survival in women with ovarian cancer.
Recent results of the randomized clinical trial, GOG 172, reported in the New
England Journal of Medicine on January 5, 2006 shows that patients with ovarian
cancer who receive optimal surgery followed by intraperitoneal (IP, into the
abdominal cavity) chemotherapy have significantly better outcomes. This trial
demonstrated a seventeen-month survival advantage compared with standard intravenous
(IV) chemotherapy. The National Cancer Institute
has issued a statement defining this as the new standard of care, for appropriate
patients. See NCI
clinical trial results.
Doctors in the Gillette Center for Gynecologic Oncology
have extensive experience with intraperitoneal (IP) treatments for ovarian
cancer including research aimed at reducing the toxicity and further advancing
the efficacy of IP therapy. Our specialists have developed a unique delivery
method that is less toxic and results in less neuropathy, hair loss, and
nausea while maintaining optimal success rates.
DF-HCC trial 04-100, a Phase II trial of Intraperitoneal Paclitaxel and Carboplatin
for Women with Optimally Cytoreduced Mullerian Cancer (ovarian, fallopian tube,
primary peritoneal) is actively enrolling patients. Please contact Maria
Roche 617-724-4800 for further details about this trial and to discuss whether
or not IP therapy is right for you.
Further information regarding the treatment of ovarian cancer may be found
at the following sites: Gynecologic
Oncology Group and Gynecologic
Cancer Foundation.
Launch of New Clinical Trial
for Treatment for Ovarian Cancer
Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center in collaboration with Dana Farber/Harvard
Cancer Care announced it
is enrolling women with ovarian cancer in the ASSIST-3 ( ASsessment
of Survival In Solid Tumors-3)
clinical trial evaluating the combination of TELCYTA ™ (TLK286), the
first investigational cancer-activated targeted chemotherapy with carboplatin,
a standard, approved chemotherapy. Patients will receive either the combination
of TELCYTA and carboplatin or Doxil®, a standard-of-care therapy for
recurrent ovarian cancer.
The combination is being studied to determine if it shrinks tumors in women
with ovarian cancer that recurs after treatment with an initial regimen including
platinum-based chemotherapy . The ASSIST-3 trial is a Phase 3 study, expanding
on the findings of previous trials of TELCYTA in ovarian cancer. TELCYTA
has been given to more than 600 cancer patients in multiple Phase 1 and Phase
2 clinical trials to date. In the ASSIST-3 trial, TELCYTA is combined with
carboplatin, a type of platinum-based chemotherapy that has been approved
for the treatment of ovarian cancer for 15 years.
TELCYTA is a first-in-class investigational drug. Unlike traditional chemotherapy,
TELCYTA is activated by GST P1-1, an enzyme found in increased quantities
in cancer cells. To read more about the current Phase
III trial of this drug
>>>
"The ASSIST-3 trial will evaluate whether a new combination for ovarian
cancer can shrink ovarian tumors by teaming a proven chemotherapy agent with
TELCYTA, a new investigational targeted chemotherapy designed to be activated
by a woman's own cancer cells," said Linda Duska , MD, Massachusetts General
Hospital Cancer Center.. "We are now enrolling women in the study who have
recurrent ovarian cancer - these patients currently have a poor prognosis
and serious need for new options."
About the ASSIST-3 Trial
The ASSIST-3 trial compares the investigational
cancer drug TELCYTA in combination with carboplatin to Doxil® (doxorubicin
HCl liposome injection) , which is FDA-approved as second-line therapy in ovarian
cancer. Trial participants will be randomly chosen to receive either the combination
therapy or Doxil as a single agent.
Patients with recurrent ovarian cancer who have previously received one regimen
of platinum-based chemotherapy regimen may be eligible to participate in
the study. For additional information about the ASSIST-3 trial, contact Dr.
Carolyn Krasner MD
Disclosure of Risks
The safety and effectiveness of TELCYTA has not yet been fully established
and TELCYTA has not yet been approved by U.S. Food and Drug Administration
for any use. This investigational treatment may not provide benefit and may
cause side effects. These side effects could be severe or even life-threatening.
There may be side effects that are not known or predictable at this time,
but that may occur at the time of treatment or later. It is important for
women considering participation in a clinical trial to discuss with their
doctor all available treatments. How Sandra Orsulic PhD’s cancer research could lead to effective screening
tools and newer more targeted therapies.
Sandra Orsulic, PhD, a scientist at the Cancer Center’s basic research facility
in Charlestown, spends a lot of time with mice. It’s not that Orsulic, who
was born and raised in Croatia, is especially fond of small rodents, although
she admits she finds them charming and is committed to their humane treatment.
It’s that she knows they may yield clues to what initiates human ovarian
cancer, the early stages of which are poorly understood because the disease is
usually not detected until it is advanced.
Orsulic painstakingly developed the first “mouse models” of ovarian
cancer—mice genetically altered to acquire the disease—making it
possible for her and other cancer researchers to study its early genetic mechanisms.
According to Orsulic, this knowledge could lead to a way to detect ovarian cancer
at an early, treatable stage. Mouse models will also enable researchers to evaluate
therapies targeted specifically at the molecular pathways involved in the initiation
and progression of ovarian cancer.
The development of mouse models of human diseases is often an essential, but
frequently very challenging, aspect of medical research. “When I realized
there was no mouse model for ovarian cancer, I decided to pursue it,”
says Orsulic. “Little did I know it would take me four years!”
Undaunted by the challenges of her decision, Orsulic developed her mouse model
of ovarian cancer several years ago, while she was working in the laboratory
of Harold Varmus, MD, former director of the National Institutes of Health and
now president of Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
Orsulic, who joined the Cancer Center in the fall of 2002, is currently working
on improving the flexibility of her mouse model so that it will have an even
greater role in helping her and other cancer researchers answer important questions
about this little-understood, challenging disease.
Source: Synergy, Winter 2004, Vol 2, #1
New Imaging to
Stop Ovarian Cancer in its Tracks An ovarian cancer tumor the size of a sesame seed has millions of cancer cells
growing inside it. In a typical ovarian cancer case, there may be thousands
of these tiny tumors spreading rapidly throughout a woman's abdomen. Finding
such infinitely small ovarian cancer tumors so that they can be eradicated
is one mission of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center's molecular
imaging program. "We are developing new imaging technologies that can
detect microscopic tumors that used to be invisible under standard laparoscopic
techniques," says
Michael V. Seiden, MD, PhD, chief of Clinical Research at the Cancer Center. " This
advanced imaging also helps us understand and target the biologic
process that allow tumors to survive because we can quickly evaluate and change
our therapies based on what we see."
|
 |
 |
The key to one of the
powerful new imaging technologies developed at the Cancer Center is near
infrared light, which is a portion of the light spectrum invisible
to the naked eye. The technique involves the use of special probes that
only in the presence of a tumor give off an infrared glow and can be "seen" by
a near infrared camera. "With this new technology, we can see tumors
that would be invisible in standard ‘white light’ laparoscopic
imaging," says
Seiden. In clinical trials involving women with suspected recurrent
cancer, this new imaging advance has made possible the detection of very
small tumors. "Standard 'white light' imaging
might detect a mass that appears to be confined to the ovary," he says. "In
the same situation, near infrared imaging might well reveal a cancerous lesion
that has spread outside the ovary. This detection method offers the possibility
of recommending more effective therapies that we hope will make an important
difference in the lives of women with ovarian cancer."
Near infrared imaging is not yet being used to detect ovarian cancer in healthy
women. Once that potential is realized, however, Seiden envisions tremendous
benefit.
|
