79% of women responded to a tumour-seeking drug for recurring ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer that comes back is hard to treat, and the standard approach has barely changed in a decade. A new kind of medicine, sofetabart mipitecan (Sofe-M), works like a guided delivery: an antibody homes in on a protein found on almost all ovarian cancer cells and carries a cell-killing drug straight inside them. In the first results for women whose cancer had returned but still responds to platinum chemotherapy, Sofe-M plus another drug, bevacizumab, shrank tumours in 79% of the 29 women whose disease could be measured — in six, the tumours disappeared completely — and it controlled the disease in every one of them. It also worked in women who had already been through several earlier treatments. Only 6% stopped because of side effects. This was a small, early Phase 1 study of 33 women, so the numbers need confirming — three larger Phase 3 trials are already running.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation