Apr 16, 2011 11:09 GMT  ·  By

Medical investigators in the United States announce the creation of a new, experimental drug, that showed promising results in treating ovarian cancer. Animal models treated with the chemical had considerably higher survival rates than those that were not given the substance.

Experts created lab mice suffering from ovarian cancer, and then tried out the new drug on the unsuspecting animals. The reason why mice were selected is because they provide a close analog to the way cancer acts in humans.

The research was carried out at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC). The resulting chemicals has been named NVP-BEZ235.

Another effect is inhibiting the growth of ovarian cancer cells that are otherwise resistant to conventional treatment methods. These include platinum chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Tumors in mice that were given the drug became sensitive to these therapies again.

Interestingly, when this happens, the effects of platinum chemotherapy are enhanced from levels recorded before the tumors became resistant to its action. The announcement was made by senior study author Dr. Oliver Dorigo.

He holds joint appointment as an UCLA assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, and as a JCCC researcher. “Platinum-based chemotherapy drugs are effective in treating ovarian cancers as long as the cancer cells remain sensitive to platinum,” the expert says.

“But once the tumor becomes resistant, treating the cancer becomes very challenging. This is a significant clinical problem, since the majority of ovarian cancer patients develop resistance at some point during treatment,” Dorigo reveals.

“Breaking chemotherapy resistance is a difficult challenge, but crucial if we want to improve long-term survival for our patients,” he says of the reasons that drove the search for the new drug.

Details of the chemical and its actions were published in the April 15 issue of the esteemed journal Clinical Cancer Research. Dorigo has been involved with developing new treatments against ovarian cancer for years.

“We were very encouraged to find that NPV-BEZ235 could resensitize the ovarian cancer cells to standard platinum treatment,” the expert says.

The new work was made possible by funds secured from the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation, the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health's Women's Reproductive Health Research Program.