Chemoresponse assays may improve ovarian cancer survival rates

A study has shown chemoresponse assays could be effective for improving ovarian cancer survival rates.

Chemoresponse assays have been shown to improve ovarian cancer survival rates, according to new research from Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island in the US.
The eight-year study hinted that women with recurrent ovarian cancer could benefit from having a biopsy and chemosensitivity testing, explained Dr Richard Moore.  
By using a tissue sample from the patient's tumour, the researchers were able to determine which treatments might work for her based on the results of the chemoresponse assay.
"The results from such testing will allow for the identification of chemotherapeutics that are active against the patient's disease and those that are not resulting in decreased toxicity from ineffective treatments," Dr Moore said.
Involving 283 women, the study was first launched in 2004, and of those candidates, 262 had successful biopsies that were tested in vitro.
As the research showed, average survival rates were 37.5 months for patients with treatment-sensitive tumours, compared to 23.9 months for intermediate and resistant tumours.
The assay identified a minimum of one treatment to which the tumour was sensitive in 52 per cent of patients.