Libby's H*O*P*E*

Geisinger Health System announced plans to partner with Indivumed, a leading provider of services enabling individualized cancer therapy, a relationship that will afford Geisinger patients access to advanced cancer treatment and clinical trials. - Libby's H*O*P*E*

The study, launched in 2004, included 283 women. Of those, 262 had successful biopsies which were tested in vitro, or in a test tube. The assay ChemoFx®, by Precision Therapeutics, tested up to 15 approved treatment regimens on the samples, identifying chemotherapy drugs and regimens to which each tumor might be sensitive. The study was non-interventional, meaning that physicians chose the treatment regimens without knowing of the assay results. The researchers then evaluated the assay's result against actual patient outcomes. The assay identified at least one treatment to which the tumor would be sensitive in 52% of patients in the study. Overall, median survival was 37.5 months for patients with treatment-sensitive tumors, compared to 23.9 months for intermediate and resistant tumors. - Libby's H*O*P*E*

Phase II study in advanced ovarian cancer suggests that first-line treatment comprising of modified dose-dense paclitaxel and monthly carboplatin chemotherapy with paclitaxel consolidation therapy preserves the efficacy of traditional dose-dense chemotherapy, while minimizing hematologic toxicity. - Libby's H*O*P*E*

Here, the data with ALN-VSP suggest that dual targeting of VEGF and KSP was attained at both the molecular and clinical level. This study also provides the basis for further development of ALN-VSP in malignancies responsive to anti-VEGF drugs, such as endometrial cancer, primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET), and renal and hepatocellular carcinoma, in which more effective and better-tolerated therapies are needed. Note: At least one previous study has found a genetic similarity (albeit not identifical) between renal clear cell cancer and ovarian clear cell cancer. - Libby's H*O*P*E*