AltaRex presents OvaRex clinical studies at ASCO.(the 38th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology)(Brief Article)

2002 JUL 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The final results of AltaRex Corp.'s (AXO) OvaRex (oregovomab) 345-patient study were presented at the 38th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) by Thomas Ehlen, MD (Vancouver Cancer Center), coprincipal investigator of the North American clinical trial.

The results of this placebo-controlled study of OvaRex antibody-based immunotherapy in stage III/IV ovarian cancer patients have established that patients with optimal surgical debulking and sensitivity to platinum chemotherapy are most likely to achieve clinical benefit from OvaRex treatment in the adjuvant setting following front line treatment (the "watchful waiting" period).

The ASCO presentation highlighted both previously announced and new analyses of study results in well-defined populations of the 345-patient study. As previously reported, the results demonstrate a statistically significant prolongation (10 months, p=3D0.0290) in time to disease relapse for OvaRex-treated patients (as compared with placebo) in a well-defined patient population (29% of patients in the study), and also demonstrate a 41% reduced risk of relapse for OvaRex-treated patients (as compared with placebo).

Yesterday's presentation further highlighted new analyses that involve the most influential prognostic factors and demonstrate a 6- to 9-month prolongation in time to disease relapse for OvaRex-treated patients (as compared with placebo) in 33-48% of the 345 patients in the study. These well-defined populations demonstrate a 19-29% reduced risk of relapse for OvaRex patients. A decreased risk of relapse of 20-25% is generally considered clinically significant ...