(by Manuela Correra)
A Multicentre Italian Trials in
Ovarian Cancer (MITO) study showing the effects of a specific
molecule on ovarian cancer has been named one of the best
research studies presented at the American Society of Clinical
Oncology (ASCO).
The study showed how the addition of a specific molecule to
chemotherapy in patients suffering from an advanced stage of
ovarian cancer can significantly slow the progression of the
disease.
The study, partially funded by the Associazione Italiana per
la Ricerca sul Cancro (AIRC) and the Associazione Italiana di
Oncologia Medica (AIOM), involved 80 Italian and foreign centers
and was coordinated by the Istituto Nazionale Tumori Pascale di
Napoli.
Some 400 patients took part in the study.
The aim, the oncologist Sandro Pignata from the Istituto
Nazionale Tumori Pascale said, "was to assess whether the
antiangiogenetic drug bevacizumab, which blocks the growth of
blood vessels feeding the tumor, would be effective if added to
chemotherapy even in patients in an advanced state and with a
relapse of the disease that had received it previously" after
surgery.
The result, he said, "is significant. It showed that the
addition of a specific molecule lengthens the disease-free
survival time. The drug, that is, delays the onset of the
reappearance of the disease by four months compared with
chemotherapy alone."
It is a step forward that is "very important", Pignata said,
"since our aim, in the case of metastasized ovarian cancer in an
advanced stage, is to make the disease into a chronic one. Thus,
every little bit towards a lengthening of survival is
fundamental. Though the aim is not curing it at that point, we
have managed to lengthen survival times. "
He added that, "a bio-bank was also created that gathers
together samples to analyze to identify which patients respond
better to that therapeutic approach."
It is, he added, "the first clinical study that shows how a
biological drug of this type can be effective even as
're-treatment'. However, in the fight against ovarian cancer
other possible treatments are opening up".
The expert noted that, in Italy, there are four experimental
trials about to begin that "provide for the addition of immune
therapy drugs that try to re-awaken the immunity system against
cancer to chemotherapy. We should have the initial data within a
year".
The therapy presented at ASCO, Pignata said, is important in
part because "it is independent research that shows Italy's role
in this field".
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