Abstract
Background/Aim: An in vitro chemoresponse assay may aid effective therapy selection in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). This study explores changes in chemoresponse between paired primary and recurrent EOC tumors. Patients and Methods: Results from metachronous tumors were examined in 242 patients. Changes in in vitro chemoresponse, measured by the area under the dose response curve (AUC) between paired tumors were assessed. Results: A significant increase in AUC was identified in most first-line therapies over time. No significant difference was observed in most recurrent therapies. When the elapsed time between occurrences was <17 months, no difference was observed for any recurrent therapies, and half of first-line therapies exhibited significant increases in AUC. When ≥17 months, all 7 therapies showed significant increases. Conclusion: These results suggest an increase in chemoresistance over time, which is more pronounced for first-line therapies. This is consistent with clinical observations and suggests the biologic concordance between assay results and response to chemotherapy.
- Received August 14, 2014.
- Revision received September 16, 2014.
- Accepted September 23, 2014.
- Copyright© 2014 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved