Xyotax to be tested in recurrent, chemotherapy-resistant cancer.(Brief Article)

2002 OCT 3 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cell Therapeutics, Inc., (CTI) (CTIC) announced that the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG), a cooperative of many of the most prominent physicians and institutions in the United States, has activated a phase II study protocol to evaluate the effectiveness of Xyotax in treating patients who have recurrent ovarian cancer, including those who are taxane resistant.

Some of the institutions involved in this study include Mayo Clinic, Duke University Medical Center, Tufts-New England Medical Center, UCLA, University

of Chicago, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and University of Washington Medical Center.

Paul Sabbatini, MD of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and John Kavanagh, MD, of the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center are cochairs of this study. Kavanagh stated, "I am pleased to be involved in this study because M. D. Anderson has been at the forefront in the early research with Xyotax and I'm impressed with the preclinical, pharmacokinetic (PK), and clinical data." He further indicated that he is anxious to see Xyotax's effectiveness as a single agent in treating taxane-resistant patients.

This phase II study is designed to enroll 45 patients who have recurrent or resistant disease and have been treated with up to two prior chemotherapeutic regimens. Patients on study will receive single-agent therapy treatment with Xyotax (at 235 mg/m[superscript]2) dosed every third week and will continue treatment until disease progression. Physicians or patients who might be interested in participating in this trial should ...