New method of Taxol production has the potential to  greatly reduce  the cost https://tinyurl.com/3hrrx7x4 Since 1996 Taxol ,  a growth suppressant has been used, together with carboplatin ,  a cytotoxic ,  in the  initial  chemo treatment  of ovarian cancer. Originally extracted from the bark of  the Pacific Yew tree, Taxol is the most expensive in terms of raw ingredients of any drug in common use. The  original  process  required the bark from two trees for each individual treatment kill ing the tree which took 100 years to mature.  Subsequently it has been extracted from the  harvested Yew needles at a cost of US$20000/ Kg. These too are in short supply. Now a biosynthetic process using cloned yeast cells has been developed ,  thereby ensuring an adequate supply at much less cost.  Hopefully  this will make this essential treatment more readily available ,  especially in third world countries.

FDA Approves New Treatment for KRAS-Mutated Recurrent Low-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer https://tinyurl.com/4t7up48w Low Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer (LGSOC) is rare,  comprising  about 5% of all  ovarian cancer an d difficult to treat . Usua lly, patients with LGSOC have better survival than other forms of ovarian cancer. However, recurrence  is common, eight out of ten women with LGSOC  will have a recurrence of the cancer. Recurrent LGSOC is  resistant, meaning   chemo used as the first-line treatment  is  no longer effective. Women with LGSOC are often younger than the usual  ovarian cancer patients,   the opportunity cost is greater when recurrence occurs. The new targeted therapy using the antibody drug combination   Avutometinib  plus  Defactinib  is a welcome addition to LGSOC recu rrence management. FDA approval for this drug follows enco uraging results from the RAMP-201 clinical trial.  The  tar...

Uptake of lipids from ascites drives NK cell metabolic dysfunction in ovarian cancer https://tinyurl.com/yc4ssp65 Free fluid in the abdominal cavity is called ascites. When ascites occurs in patients with ovarian cancer it  has always been recognised as an ominous sign of near death. Some understanding of why is now becoming  clear. Previously it was thought that the loss of protein and general debility that  occurs with ascites was responsible. This research suggests that the immune response to cancer is suppressed by fat content  in the fluid. The immune response to ovarian cancer is  generated by a cellular mechanism via lymphocytes. There are two main types; T c ells which are specific to the cancer cell antigen and  Natural  Killer  (NK)  cells which are non-specific and have  a protective function by reducing metastasis of cancer  and causing cell death . In the presence of ascites, the immune response is suppressed . Using an...

Ovarian cancer survival by residual disease following cytoreductive surgery: a nationwide study in Norway https://tinyurl.com/59v8kavu It is well known that one of the most important predictors of cure with ovarian cancer is the completeness of the  initial  surgery. This retrospect ive survey of 2608 women with ovarian cancer from the Norwegian Cancer registry looked at  survival after surgery compared to the amount of residual tumour  left behind. Unsurprisingly those women who had  apparently complete  removal with no residual tumour did best . When only a s mall fragment of tumour remained (1-4 mm diameter) su rvival decreased  two-fold.  Fo r  those women with larger residual tumour the risk of death was three times greater. This level of risk was constant for all tumours larger than 4mm, with some measuring 20mm or more.   Whether or not women with no residual cancer had neoadjuvant therapy did not change the chance of survival.

Large-scale analysis to identify risk factors for ovarian cancer https://tinyurl.com/2sfbv5nw The UK Biobank recruited  500,000 participants during the period 2006-2010.  A questionnaire and blood  and urine tests together with physical  exam  provide  base-line information looking for biomarkers of  subsequent  disease. During the follow up 1441 cases of ovarian cancer were detected. Data from the  initial survey was collected and compared retrospectively with the other  220,201 women who did not have ovarian cancer.  There is a huge amount of data with 2920 items for everyone involved.   Statistical adjustment  attempted  to separate cau se from effect. Results from the survey supported the known association with obesity and the protective effect of hormonal  contraception  and childb irth. Some blood factors sug gest  causal effects. The authors conclude avoiding obesity and limiting  ...

Ocular Events w ith   Mirvetuximab  Show No Impact on QoL in Ovarian Cancer https://tinyurl.com/4zbpp67k One of the more exciting developments in ovarian cancer treatment has been the FDA approval of an antibody drug combination called  E lahere   in the treatment of platinum resistant ovarian cancer . This group of patients are especially difficult to treat with a poor  disease-free  survival of aroun d  4   months. Results from the MIRASOL trial suggest an increase  to 6   months . Elahere  is  a targeted treatment for women with  ovarian  cancer wh ich   demonstrate  Folate Receptor 𝛂  expression (about 80%). One of the important adverse effects is loss of visual acuity . This is seen in 50% of patients, it develops with in   4 to 5 weeks of  commencing  treatment. The cause is inflammatory change due to local action of the drug and  subsequent  chronic  formation of mi...

Risk-Reduction Surgery Benefit in Non-BRCA Ovarian Cancer https://tinyurl.com/2mnd5c9y Risk reduction surgery has been promoted as a means of avoiding ovarian cancer. Most studies have concentrated on removal of fallopian tubes for women who are at high risk, especially those who carry the BRCA or Lynch mutation. Some centres have extended this for all women and suggested that additional surgery, to remove the fallopian tubes, be added to other abdominal surgical procedures. Any extra intervention will increase  operative  risk. This prospective study of 142 non-BRCA women at low risk, looks at the surgical specimen, and compares the evidence, of pre-cancer change with a similar control group of 388 women, who had the same surgery for risk reduction, in the presence of a hazardous mutation. Results from the study show similar rates of normal appearance at about 95%. No evidence of pre-cancer change was found in non BRCA women whereas 3% of specimen removed from BRCA +ve women ...