title: Progression-free interval in ovarian cancer and predictive value of an ex vivo chemoresponse assay.
abstract: The study objective was to determine the effectiveness of a phenotypic chemoresponse assay in predicting response to chemotherapy measured by progression-free interval (PFI) in a retrospective series of ovarian cancer patients whose tumor specimens had been tested with the ChemoFx assay. A statistically significant correlation between assay prediction of response and PFI was observed in 256 cases with an exact or partial match between drug(s) assayed and received. In 135 cases with an exact match, the hazard ratio for progression of the resistant group was 2.9 (confidence interval [CI]: 1.4-6.3; P < 0.01) compared to the sensitive group and 1.7 (CI: 1.2-2.5) for the intermediate compared to the sensitive group. The median PFI for patients treated with drugs assayed as resistant was 9 months, 14 months for those with drugs assayed as intermediately sensitive, and PFI had not been achieved for those with drugs assayed as sensitive. These data indicate that the ChemoFx assay is predictive of PFI in ovarian cancer. As the majority of ovarian cancers display different degrees of response to different chemotherapy agents ex vivo, the incorporation of assay information into treatment selection has the potential to improve clinical outcomes in ovarian cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Precision Therapeutics Inc., 2516 Jane Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203, USA. hgallion@ptilabs.com
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gallion
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Christopherson
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Coleman
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: DeMars
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Herzog
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hosford
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schellhas
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.forename: B-U
authors.initials: BU
authors.lastname: Sevin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D018450:Disease Progression; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D010052:Ovariectomy / Q000379:methods; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome