Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month And VALTIVE1

Ovarian cancer awareness month

March is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. In this global campaign aiming at raising awareness, promoting research, fundraising, and supporting women with ovarian cancer around the world, we would like to introduce you to the VALTIVE1 study, one of the ovarian cancer trials that the Centre for Trials Research at Cardiff University is running.

When a doctor prescribes a drug to their patient for treating their cancer, neither the doctor nor the patient know for sure if it will work. Some patients may complete the treatment plan, whereas some others will stop it earlier, if their additional symptoms and further investigations show that the tumour has escaped the control of the drug and has started growing. Until then, the patient may go through a number of unpleasant side effects that any cancer treatment inevitably causes.

Would it be good if a test could tell the doctor and the patient whether the prescribed drug is working before the treatment plan is completed or the side effects become unbearable?

In the VALTIVE1 study, we’re studying a blood test (biomarker) in ovarian cancer that may answer this question.

The usual treatment for ovarian cancer is a combination of surgery and chemotherapy followed by a drug called bevacizumab that is administered through an injection for up to a year to keep the cancer under control and delay cancer growth. Bevacizumab works well for some people with ovarian cancer but not for all; it can cause side effects and requires regular trips to the hospital for the administration.

The VALTIVE researchers have discovered a blood test which can tell doctors after a few weeks of starting treatment whether bevacizumab is working or not. These findings need to be checked though before this test is available on the NHS, so the team is running a small study (VALTIVE1), where women being treated with bevacizumab for their ovarian cancer donate their blood samples during routine blood tests that patients have when going to the hospital. If the study confirms the initial fundings, a larger study (VALTIVE2) will be conducted for proving conclusively the value of this blood test.

The advantage for patients is that stopping an ineffective drug early allows alternatives (if available) to be used instead, and saves the patient from multiple visits to hospital as well as the side effects of an ineffective treatment. On the other hand, if the patient’s cancer remains under control at the end of the standard 12 months, we will be able to argue that the patient should be entitled to continue bevacizumab for as long as they benefit.

Chief Investigator: Prof Gordon Jayson, Professor of Medica Oncology, The University of Manchester and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust

Funder: Cancer Research UK

Sponsor: The University of Manchester

Coordinating centre: Centre for Trials Research

IRAS ID number: 285116

VALTIVE1 Team email address: VALTIVE@cardiff.ac.uk