Volunteers sought for cancer study in Oklahoma

Oklahoma women with ovarian cancer are needed to test new therapies aimed at prolonging life and reducing treatment side effects.

Dr. Joan Walker of the OU Cancer Institute is leading a five-year clinical trial that could grow to include 1,800 women across the nation. So far, 13 Oklahomans have enrolled in the study.

"The ultimate goal is to find the new ovarian cancer treatment standard of care that can be done nationwide or worldwide and make everyone live longer than 5 years and maybe 10 years,” Walker said.

Ovarian cancer usually is detected at an advanced stage and most patients die. That’s why cancer patient Joan Minks of Durant enrolled in the study.

"I went into it knowing I was giving it the best chance I possibly could,” she said.

Patients will be assigned one of three regimens that combine the new drug bevacizumab (Avastin) with other medications administered either intravenously or injected through a portal directly into the peritoneal cavity through a process called intraperitoneal therapy or IP.

Walker said IP chemotherapy has proven more effective in delaying cancer progression because it allows for greater concentration of anti-cancer drugs in the area around the tumor. But it can cause side effects such as infection, muscle weakness and nerve damage.

The phase 3 trial also is looking at whether giving the anti-cancer drug Taxol every week instead of every three weeks will improve survival.

Information on trials and enrollment criteria is at www.oumedicine.com.