AstraZeneca announces positive results from ovarian cancer combo therapy trial

In an additional arm, Imfinzi, chemotherapy plus bevacizumab showed a numerical improvement in PFS versus the control arm but did not reach statistical significance at this interim analysis.

At the time of this planned interim analysis, the overall survival (OS) and other secondary endpoints are immature and will be formally assessed at a subsequent analysis.

Ovarian cancer is one of the most common gynaecologic cancers. Over two thirds of patients are diagnosed with advanced disease which can progress quickly, often within two years, diminishing their quality of life despite treatment. Unfortunately, 50-70% of patients with advanced disease die within five years.

Philipp Harter, Director, Department of Gynaecology and Gynaecologic Oncology, Evangelische Kliniken Essen-Mitte, Germany and principal investigator for the trial, said, "DUO-O showcases the power of academia and industry collaboration in advancing new treatment combinations for patients with ovarian cancer. I’m grateful for the academic cooperative study groups and patients around the world that made this trial possible and look forward to sharing the results with the clinical community."

Susan Galbraith, Executive Vice President, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca, said, "While there has been significant progress for patients with advanced ovarian cancer, an unmet need still remains. These data from the DUO-O trial provide encouraging evidence for this Lynparza and Imfinzi combination in patients without tumour BRCA mutations and reinforce our continued commitment to finding new treatment approaches for these patients. It will be important to understand the key secondary endpoints as well as data for relevant subgroups.”

The safety and tolerability of these combinations are broadly consistent with that observed in prior clinical trials and the known profiles of the individual medicines.

"The data will be presented at forthcoming medical meetings and shared with health authorities," the company stated.