Preliminary results of a randomized, international Phase II trial of VEGF Trap (aflibercept) show activity in patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) who had received three or four prior chemotherapy regimens and had become resistant to platinum-based chemotherapy agents.
The findings, which are being presented today at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting, may indicate a role for this targeted therapy in women with ovarian cancer who have exhausted all other options.
To date, the trial has enrolled 162 patients with advanced ovarian cancer at 44 centers in twelve countries in Europe, Canada, and the United States. Favorable results were reported for 85 percent of participants after one month: 8 percent showed tumor shrinkage and 77 percent had stable disease. After fourteen weeks, 41 percent of patients continued to have stable disease.
"The interim analysis of the Phase II data was very promising," said Dr. William P. Tew, an oncologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the study's lead author. "As a result, we are continuing to recruit patients to complete the study."