ASCO News: Kidney Cancer Drug Delays Ovarian Cancer Relapse

Research presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting this week suggests that adding the drug pazopanib (trade name Votrient) to standard treatment extends progression-free survival in ovarian cancer patients by 5.6 months.

Pazopanib is an oral anti-angiogenesis drug already approved to treat kidney cancer.  The phase III study of over 900 women  used paxopanib as maintenance therapy, in which the drug is given immediately after standard chemotherapy in an attempt to stave off recurrence.  For those who received the drug, the median time before the cancer worsened was 17.9 months, compared with 12.3 months for those given a placebo.

It is not yet clear whether the taking the drug increases survival or if patients would live just as long if they waited and only took the drug when they relapsed.

Click here (MedPage) and here (New York Times) for more information.