Use of a Chemoresponse Assay Improves Clinical Outcomes

Research published in the November 2013 issue of Gynecologic Oncology reports that the use of the chemoresponse assay ChemoFx can lead to improved clinical outcomes for women undergoing treatment for ovarian cancer.

The goal of this clinical trial, which took nearly ten years to complete, was to determine the association of chemoresponse assay results with progression-free survival and overall survival in patients with persistent or recurrent ovarian cancer:  can a chemoresponse assay identify effective, sensitive treatments for recurrent ovarian cancer patients?

The study showed that when a recurrent ovarian cancer patient was treated with a drug that the chemoresponse assay (in this study the ChemoFx test was used) determined to be sensitive for them, they experienced a 50% longer progression free survival, and lived on average 14 months longer than those who were treated with a drug the assay found them to be resistant to.

This suggests that the chemoresponse assay may have predictive abilities, enabling a physician to choose an effective pharmaceutical treatment from among the available options for ovarian cancer.

Click here for full-text access to this journal article, or click here to watch a short presentation about it.