GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) – a British multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Brentford, London – has just announced that its study of a maintenance therapy for a form of ovarian cancer reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 38% in a late-stage study in cancer patients.
The therapy being tested uses a drug called Niraparib. The drug has been approved for a couple of years now by the US FDA for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer who are in complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy.
The GlaxoSmithKline study tested the drug in patients with first-line platinum responsive advanced ovarian cancer and was compared to placebo. Niraparib is also being tested to treat other forms of ovarian and breast cancer, the company said.
Dr. Hal Barron, Chief Scientific Officer and President R&D, GSK said:
Ovarian cancer is the eighth most commonly occurring cancer in women worldwide and women with this devastating disease have a five-year survival rate of less than 50%. PRIMA is a landmark study as we believe these data have the potential to fundamentally change how women with ovarian cancer are treated.
Although it’s not the most threatening form of cancer, ovarian cancer is still the fifth most common cause of cancer death in women in the U.S., and this disease causes more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system. This study is therefore very good news indeed!
