Trial Drug Offers Hope for Ovarian Cancer Patients

Early test on small number of women yields improved survival rate

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 7, 2009 6:01 AM CDT

(Newser) – A new drug being developed in Britain could someday prolong the lives of thousands of women suffering ovarian cancer, the Guardian reports. Eight of the 18 women involved in the trial, all of whom had been given less than a year to live, saw their tumors stabilize or shrink under the treatment, an unusually high proportion for an experimental cancer drug.

"The hope with this group of patients was to slow down the progress of their ovarian cancer, improve the quality of their life and possibly make them live longer," said the chief investigator. "We have been quite successful in doing that. If this becomes a treatment, this is a whole new approach to treating ovarian cancer." The drug may be available within 5 years if further trials prove successful.

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Participants begin the 2007 Revlon Run/Walk For Women in New York to raise money to fight against breast and ovarian cancer. The survival rate for ovarian cancer has not changed in 30 years. (AP Photo/Rick Maiman)

Cancer researchers say early trials of a drug to treat ovarian cancer are showing very promising results. (Shutterstock)

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The dream scenario is that a combination of the existing chemotherapy drugs and this type of antibody will be a big breakthrough and open up a new avenue for the treatment of ovarian cancer.
- Professor Iain McNeish, a professor of gynecological oncology

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Trial Drug Offers Hope for Ovarian Cancer Patients