S-P's Caelyx impresses in Ph II cancer trial

US drugmaker Schering-Plough says that the results of a Phase II trial of its drug Caelyx (pegylated liposomal doxorubicin HCl) indicate that, in combination with carboplatin, the agent is effective in patients with previouslytreated ovarian cancer. Data from the study is published in the February issue of the Annals of Oncology.

S-P said that the study, which enrolled 104 patients with advanced ovarian cancer who had experienced prior treatment, provided subjects with a 30mg/m2 dose of Caelyx followed by carboplatin-based chemotherapy every 28 days for a maximum of nine cycles.

The results showed that the combined regimen brought about an overall tumor response rate of 63%, of which 38% were defined as complete. The combined treatment also conferred a median survival time of 32 months, providing an average 9.4 month period of progression-free survival.