In Northwest Biotherapeutics’s (NWBT) trial, the two patients who have received treatment attained eight months and six months without progression, respectively.
Each of these NWBT patients had metastases in four or five locations at the beginning of the trial and, in both of the patients, all of their metastatic lesions responded following the treatment regimen – either by shrinking somewhat (20-25%), or by remaining the same size and not growing, or by disappearing. The patients did not experience any toxicity or debilitating side effects, the company said.
This trial is ongoing, and is treating ‘no option’ patients who have already been treated with most or all major drugs currently available for recurrent, metastatic ovarian cancer (including carboplatin, paclitaxel, docetaxel, abraxane, gemcitabine and topotecan), and whose cancer has still continued to progress.
Lisa Beth Ferstenberg, chief medical officer of Northwest Biotherapeutics, said: “We are very pleased with these initial findings for our DCVax-L for ovarian cancer. Seeing not only stable metastatic lesions, but also metastatic lesions that shrink or disappear is very encouraging in ovarian cancer, as there is little, if anything, to help patients with the bleak prognosis of recurrent ovarian cancer. We look forward to more comprehensive results as the trial progresses.”