Adding an experimental drug to conventional chemotherapy improved the chances of survival for patients with an aggressive type of female reproductive system cancer, researchers reported, during a mid-stage clinical trial conducted in Belarus.
The study included 30 women with ovarian cancer who had not responded to platinum-based chemotherapy as a first line of defense, and who had high levels of a cancer-related protein in the blood known as CA-125.
All study participants received standard treatment with gemcitabine, while half of them received the drug Elenagin, produced by Cure Lab Oncology, as a weekly intramuscular injection.
The results showed that patients who took Elenagin lived significantly longer, with a median survival of more than 25 months, compared to about 13 months for those who took only gemcitabine.
“Several patients lived for years longer than expected in such cases,” the researchers stated in a statement.
The study also concluded that adding inlinagin reduced the risk of death by approximately 60%.
“What is impressive about these results is not only the prolongation of survival, but that this was achieved without additional toxic effects and without the need for a specific biomarker,” said study leader Dr. Sergey Krasny from the N.N. Alexandrov National Cancer Center in Minsk.
Elenagin contains a protein known as P62/SQSTM1, which is thought to reduce chronic inflammation and stimulate an immune response that helps the body fight tumors.
Krasny added that the drug’s effect indicates the feasibility of “a radically different therapeutic approach, one that supports the body biologically instead of simply intensifying chemotherapy.”
The duration of treatment ranged from less than a month to more than 30 months, and researchers found that continuing to take the drug for a longer period was strongly associated with increased survival time after stopping taking it.
The company has announced plans to conduct larger trials in the United States.
Details of the trial have been published in the International Journal of Gynecologic Cancer, and the results are scheduled to be presented on February 27 at the European Society of Gynecologic Oncology meeting in Copenhagen.
