Nearly eight in ten women responded to a new ovarian cancer combination in an early trial

Ovarian cancer that returns after platinum chemotherapy leaves women with few good options. At the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress in Madrid, researchers reported early results for a targeted combination — sofetabart mipitecan, a drug that homes in on a marker found on ovarian cancer cells, plus bevacizumab — in 33 previously treated women: nearly 80 percent saw their tumours respond, and at ten months the typical patient had not yet seen the disease progress. Two patients stopped treatment because of side effects. It is a small, early study, and a large Phase 3 trial is now testing whether the benefit holds — but for a cancer short on answers, this is a strong signal.

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