An experimental immunotherapy is in the works that can target an individual woman’s tumor and extend the time period between initial treatment and the cancer’s return.
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From Medical Express
Vaccine may delay recurrence for advanced ovarian cancers
the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:
According to preliminary findings presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women's Cancer in Chicago, Illinois, researchers have found that a vaccine delayed cancer recurrence in women with stage III or IV ovarian cancers.For the phase II study, researchers enrolled 31 women with stage III or IV ovarian cancer. Of those, 20 received the experimental immunotherapy and 11 did not. Results showed that those who did not receive the immunotherapy experienced a cancer recurrence in a median of 14.5 months, while those who did receive the vaccine have not yet reached the median time to recurrence. Thus far, the majority of the study population is beyond the 14.5 months.
"This was a preliminary study with promising results that may give women with advanced ovarian cancer an option for a maintenance regimen," said Jonathan Oh, MD, a gynecologic oncologist at Texas Oncology, P.A., in Dallas, Texas. "Additionally, the vaccine is very well tolerated."
The findings suggest that using a patient's own immune system to combat advanced ovarian cancer may be promising strategy to improve patient outcomes.
