New drug combo helps treat ovarian cancer

February 17, 2002

LONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Standard chemotherapy drugs used in a new

combination may prolong the lives of women seriously ill with ovarian

cancer, Dutch scientists said on Friday.

By combining two drugs already used to treat other types of cancers,

researchers at the Rotterdam Institute improved the condition of nearly

80% of ovarian cancer patients who had relapsed after earlier treatment.

" The new drug combination was highly effective at keeping women alive

for longer, giving real hope to those who would otherwise have had very

little, " said Dr. de Wit, who led the research team.

Ovarian cancer is one of the most deadly forms of the disease because

there are few symptoms in its earliest stages and it is often not

diagnosed until it has spread to other areas of the body.

The scientists gave an intensive regimen of the drugs cisplatin and

etoposide to 98 women who had not responded to earlier treatment.

The new drug combination shrank tumors in 80% of the women, and in 43

patients all signs of the cancer disappeared, according to the research

published in the British Journal of Cancer.

" We were worried the women would be too ill to cope with the treatment,

but in fact, they suffered relatively few side effects.

" And since these drugs are readily available, there's no reason why

women shouldn't start to benefit from them right away, " de Wit said in a

statement.

If ovarian cancer is diagnosed in its earliest stage, the prognosis is

good, but the 5-year survival rate for women with advanced cancer is

only 15% to 20%.

Surgery and chemotherapy are the standard treatment for the illness but

many patients do not respond or acquire resistance to the drugs.

" While current chemotherapy regimes are effective for some women with

ovarian cancer, many relapse later and overall cure rates are improving

only very slowly, " said Professor Gordon McVie of the UK's Cancer

Research Campaign charity, which developed cisplatin.

" These old drugs in a new regime will be a useful salvage, " he added.

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