This story was first published in digitalhealth.net
‘Very promising’ ovarian cancer treatment
Researchers have heralded a new targeted treatment for ovarian cancer which has seen shrunk tumours in nearly half of women who took part in a small trial.
The researchers, from the Institute of Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in London, had originally only planned testing the drug to see if it was safe for humans to take but found it significantly shrank tumours in seven of the 15 patients who took the drug.
The symptoms of ovarian cancer can be vague and is often not picked up until the latter stages in around six out of 10 women, with about one in five cases meaning the disease isn't diagnosed until it is incurable.
ONX-0801, as the drug is known, is the first in a new class of drugs which work by mimicking the ability of folic acid selectively to latch on to cancer cells, reducing the regular side-effects of traditional chemotherapy by leaving healthy tissue alone.
Once locked on to a cancer cell, the drug disrupts its chemistry by blocking the action of a key molecule, causing widespread DNA damage and cell death.
Dr Udai Banerji, one of the lead researchers, said: "The results we have seen in this trial are very promising. It is rare to see such clear evidence of reproducible responses in these early stages of drug development.
"The beauty of this particular drug is that it is targeted to the cancer cell. This means there are fewer side-effects, making it a kinder treatment for ovarian cancer patients. It's early days of course, but I'm keen to see this treatment assessed in later-stage clinical trials as soon as possible."
Dr Catherine Pickworth, from Cancer Research UK, said: "It's encouraging to see this new drug is showing promise as a potential new treatment for ovarian cancer. The next steps will be for researchers to test the drug in larger clinical trials to confirm it works and is safe, and to work out which women with ovarian cancer this drug could help."
The researchers aim to carry out bigger clinical trials in the near future.
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