CHICAGO – The progressive disease rate was reduced by nearly 19% at 9 months with no increase in toxicity in women with epithelial ovarian cancer who were treated with both intraperitoneal and intravenous chemotherapy following neoadjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy and optimal debulking surgery in the randomized phase II OV21/PETROC study.
Disease worsening at 9 months occurred in 23.3% of 102 women who received intraperitoneal (IP) and IV chemotherapy, compared with 42.2% in 101 who received only IV chemotherapy. Although the study was not powered to detect a difference in overall survival, the median overall survival was 59.3 months and 38.1 months in the groups, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.80), and these data are consistent with previous randomized studies showing a benefit with intraperitoneal chemotherapy in the frontline treatment setting, Dr. Helen J. Mackay reported at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
In this video interview, Dr. Mackay of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, discussed the findings and future directions of the study, noting that the data underscore the importance of a discussion about the option of using IP chemotherapy in ovarian cancer patients who have undergone optimal cytoreduction.
The OV21/PETROC study received funding support from the Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute, Cancer Research, UK, and the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute. Dr. Mackay reported travel and expenses from AstraZeneca.