Tumor Treating Fields in combination with paclitaxel in recurrent ovarian carcinoma: Results of the INNOVATE pilot study

Abstract

Background: Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) are an anti-mitotic therapy comprising continuous delivery of low-intensity alternating electric fields at intermediate frequencies to the tumor region by a home-use medical device.

Methods: The INNOVATE (EF-22) Study was a phase 2, single arm clinical trial, which tested the safety and efficacy of TTFields (200 kHz) in combination with weekly paclitaxel (weekly for 8 weeks and then on days 1, 8, 15 of each subsequent 28 day-cycle; starting dose 80 mg/m²) in 31 patients with recurrent, platinum-resistant ovarian carcinoma. The primary endpoint was safety and secondary endpoints included OS, PFS and RR.

Results: Median age was 60 (range: 45-77), 24 patients (77%) had serous histology, 16 patients (52%) ECOG score 0 and 15 (48%) ECOG 1, the median number of prior chemotherapy lines was 4 (range: 1-11). All patients received prior platinum-based chemotherapy and 30 (97%) received prior taxanes. No serious adverse events related to TTFields were reported. There was no increase in grade 3-4 adverse events compared to the frequency of such events reported in the literature with single agent weekly paclitaxel. Twenty-six patients (84%) had the expected TTFields-related dermatitis but only one patient permanently discontinued TTFields due to dermatitis. The median PFS was 8.9 months, 7 patients (25%) had partial response and the clinical benefit rate was 71%. The median overall survival was not reached: the one-year survival rate was 61%.

Conclusion: TTFields combined with weekly paclitaxel were safe in platinum-resistant recurrent ovarian cancer and warrants evaluation in a randomized phase 3 trial.

Keywords: Cancer; Clinical trial; NovoTTF; Ovarian; Pilot; TTFields; Tumor Treating Fields.