Salvage therapy of gemcitabine plus endostar significantly improves progression-free survival (PFS) with platinum-resistant recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer

Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2013;14(3):1841-6. doi: 10.7314/apjcp.2013.14.3.1841.

Abstract

Anti-angiogenic agents have played crucial roles in the treatment of ovarian cancer in recent years, but potential benefits of endostatin have been largely unexplored. The present retrospective study evaluated its efficacy and toxicity with two cohorts of patients with platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer. One cohort received gemcitabine plus endostar (rh-endostatin), and the second cohort received gemcitabine regimen alone, with totals of 31 and 27 patients, respectively. The main endpoints were disease control rate (DCR), PFS, overall survival (OS) and safety. There were statistically significant differences in DCR (70.9% vs. 40.7%; P = 0.02) and PFS (6.3 months vs. 3.2 months, P = 0.001) between the two cohorts. Though the endostar cohort also improved median OS by 2.1 months, there was no statistically significant difference compared with gemcitabine alone cohort in this case (12.5 months vs. 10.4 months, P = 0.201). Treatment was well tolerated for most patients, and toxicity of endostar was negligible. Gemcitabine plus endostar significantly improved the prognosis in patients with platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer, especially in those with malignant effusion. The endostar- containing regimen is recommended in this setting.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / therapeutic use
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols
  • Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous / drug therapy
  • Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous / mortality
  • Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous / pathology
  • Deoxycytidine / analogs & derivatives*
  • Deoxycytidine / therapeutic use
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / drug effects*
  • Endostatins / therapeutic use*
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Gemcitabine
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Grading
  • Neoplasm Metastasis
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / drug therapy
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / mortality*
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / pathology
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / mortality*
  • Ovarian Neoplasms / pathology
  • Platinum / pharmacology*
  • Prognosis
  • Recombinant Proteins / therapeutic use
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Salvage Therapy*
  • Survival Rate

Substances

  • Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic
  • Endostatins
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Deoxycytidine
  • Platinum
  • endostar protein
  • Gemcitabine