Palbociclib—A breakthrough in the treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer

A NEW DAWN IN THE TREATMENT OF RECURRENT OVARIAN CANCER For women, the state of relapse of the Ovarian Cancer after going through proper treatment like first-line chemotherapy or surgery is termed as recurrence. It must be mentioned here that it can recur anywhere, but the most common area is the abdominal cavity. If you come across any of these symptoms like abdominal pain, nausea, bloating, vomiting, etc., consult your doctor immediately to start treatment. According to medical studies and reports, the five-year survival rate for ovarian cancer is 47%. Researchers claim that around 70% of the total number of cases will have a chance of relapsing. The patients who have been diagnosed in the earliest stage (Stage 1) have about a 10% chance of recurrence.

Palbociclib—A breakthrough in the treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer There is not much that can help to treat recurrent metastatic ovarian cancer effectively.

Recently, Ibrance Palbociclib has been approved to treat this condition in patients who have previously undergone cytotoxic chemotherapy and hormone therapy. It is a cyclindependent kinase inhibitor that blocks the action of CDK4 and CDK6 on the cancer cells and curbs their growth.

Dosage The usual dosage, in this case, is palbociclib 125 mg. Depending on your medical condition and extent of the disease, your doctor may alter the amount. It is available in capsule form that needs to be taken each day at the same time, within 30 minutes of having a meal. Usually, the patient takes one capsule in 3 weeks.

Precautionary Methods

1. While you are taking Palbociclib 125 mg, do not eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice.

2. If you're pregnant, consult with your doctor before starting this drug therapy because it has a chance of harming your unborn fetus.

3. Avoid breastfeeding while on this medication because it can pass through the breast milk harm the baby.

4. Do not chew or crush the tablets. You are not supposed to divide doses.

5. Consult your doctor before taking any vaccination shots.

6. An overall medical checkup is absolutely mandatory before starting Palbociclib because it may help determine whether your body can tolerate the after-effects or whether you are allergic to any of the ingredients.

7. Inform your doctor about all the medications, including herbal remedies and vitamin supplements that you've been taking. It may interact with the drug and cause harm to the patient.

Side Effects

Although the toxicity profile of Palbociclib is relatively moderate, there may be certain side effects that the patient needs to be aware of:

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Nausea and vomiting Diarrhea Unusual bruising and bleeding Mouth sores Dizziness and fatigue

If you have a fever with chills (body temperature of 100.4 F or above), consider it a medical emergency.

For patients with estrogen receptor-positive locally advanced ovarian cancer, the combination of Palbociclib and Letrozole has managed to record a good response in controlling the disease. It interferes with the growth of tumor cells by blocking the enzymes that promote cancer-cell growth.

Treatments associated with recurrent ovarian cancer It depends a lot on the type of treatment that you've received in the past, whether the recurrence will be high-risk or not. In case the disease has relapsed within six months or lesser, alternative chemotherapy is opted by doctors because it is classified then as a platinum-resistant condition. Some women also participate in clinical trials to get the first-hand benefits of investigational drugs. If it is a platinum-sensitive case, i.e., if the disease has relapsed after more than 6 months, the usual treatment is to be carried on with a platinum-based drug and another type of chemotherapy agent.

Medication used in treating ovarian and recurrent ovarian cancer Other than Ibrance 125 mg, there are several other drugs for the treatment of ovarian and recurrent ovarian cancer. Mention may be made of the following here: •

Melphalan:

Patients with recurrent ovarian cancer have responded well to treatment with Melphalan 50mg after going through a platinum-based therapy. Medical studies conducted in such patients have proved that oral Melphalan was well-tolerated, and the most common side effect was nausea. Note that Melphalan is used as single-agent chemotherapy. Progression-free survival was recorded to be 8 months after the

initiation of Melphalan therapy. The overall survival rate of high-dose Melphalan therapy for 5 years is 45%, but it also depends on the status of the tumor.

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Cisplatin:

The last 4 decades have experienced the massive stride of Cisplatin 50 mg in the treatment of ovarian cancer. The tumor response to this medication has been quite promising. Recent studies have also aimed at enhancing the efficacy of Cisplatin for treating this condition. Based on the condition of your disease, the drug can be prescribed alone or in combination with other anti-cancer medications. It is infused intravenously into the vein or can also be injected through a catheter tube directly to the abdominal cavity.

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Paclitaxel:

It is quite an efficient chemotherapy treatment for both primary and recurrent cases of ovarian cancer. This platinum-based therapy has been regarded as the standard care for ovarian cancer management in its initial stages. The treatment continues in cycles.

Generally, the medication is administered intravenously in the patient body. The typical dosage is Paclitaxel 100 mg once every 3 to 4 weeks. It is also used in combination with Carboplatin in Stage 1 Ovarian cancer. For Stage 4 patients, the progression-free survival with Paclitaxel treatment is 8 months.

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Thiotepa:

This drug is used in combination with Melphalan after peripheral stem cell transplantation for patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. For the primary stage conditions, Thiotepa can also be prescribed with Cisplatin. This medication is also used in breast cancer treatment extensively.

Apart from the afore-mention medications FDA has approved a few more such as Bevacizumab, Cyclophosphamide, Lynparza (Olaparib), Zejula (Niraparib Tosylate Monohydrate), Hycamtin (Topotecan Hydrochloride), Doxil (Doxorubicin Hydrochloride Liposome), etc for the treatment of recurrent ovarian cancer.

Combination Therapy Drugs for Ovarian Cancer The various combination drugs used for treating primary and recurrent ovarian cancers are BEP, Carboplatin-Taxol, Gemcitabine-Cisplatin, VAC, PEB, and many more. When the body does not respond well to one chemotherapy agent, combination therapy can be helpful.

Conclusion The progression-free survival of ovarian cancer saw a significant improvement from treatment with Palbociclib. It can also be taken with hormone therapies or an aromatase inhibitor (depending on the type of cancer). Palbociclib price is relatively

high in the market, around $13006 for a total of 21 capsules. You can contact Indian Pharma to get the best prices.

Source: https://diseaseandmedications.weebly.com/blog/a-new-dawn-in-thetreatment-of-recurrent-ovarian-cancer