Efficacy And Safety Of Apatinib Treatment In Platinum-Resistant Recurrent Epithelial Ovarian Cancer: A Real World Study

Abstract

Objective

To evaluate real-world use and outcomes of apatinib treatment in platinum-resistant recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer.

Methods

This is an observational study. Patients with platinum-resistant recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer initiating apatinib treatment from January 2016 to December 2018 were included. The primary end point was progression-free survival. Other end points included overall survival, objective response rate, disease control rate, and toxicity.

Results

A total of 28 platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian cancer patients were enrolled in this study. Thirteen cases received apatinib as maintenance therapy following chemotherapy with a median progression-free survival of 6.0 months and a medium overall survival of 11.0 months. Four patients received apatinib as palliative following chemotherapy with 2 cases in progressive disease and 2 cases in stable disease. Eleven cases received apatinib alone as salvage therapy with a disease control rate of 81.8% and a median progression-free survival of 3.0 months. The most common adverse effects were hand-foot syndrome (53.57%), secondary hypertension (46.43%) and fatigue (14.29%). Five patients discontinued treatment due to grade 3 toxicities and 4 patients required dose reduction because of adverse effects.

Conclusion

Apatinib produced moderate improvements in progression-free survival in patients with platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian cancer both as maintenance therapy following chemotherapy and as single-agent salvage therapy. Our study suggests that apatinib may be effective for women with platinum-resistant recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer.

Keywords:

• epidermal growth factor receptor
• apatinib
• ovarian cancer
• platinum-resistant
• maintenance therapy

Acknowledgment

This work was supported by grants from Zhejiang Natural Science Foundation (LY19H160021), Zhejiang Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Plan (2019ZA074) and Technology Development Funds of Wenzhou City (Y20180014).

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.