According to Phase II clinical trial data with 130 patients, an experimental drug called pertuzumab prolonged the survival time for women with stage 3 recurrent ovarian cancer.

Pertuzumab is a monoclonal antibody being developed by Genentech as a chemotherapeutic drug against prostate, breast, and ovarian cancers.

In the study, pertuzumab was administered in combination with a standard chemotherapy agent sometime after the initial treatments had been given, and after the re-emergence of cancer. Makhija said the new combination added weeks to the standard survival period for recurrent patients, and the drug combo was well-tolerated by the body and caused minimal side effects.

The results were presented in the recently concluded European Cancer Conference held in Barcelona, Spain. The Phase II study is now closed, and a larger Phase 3 study of pertuzumab set to include hundreds of U.S. women is being planned.