Trial of Trientine Plus Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin and Carboplatin in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

Overview

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the leading cause of gynecological malignancy-related deaths worldwide and is a substantial health threat to women. Many patients eventually develop chemoresistant relapsed disease and die despite surgery and combination chemotherapy. Progress in improving the survival in EOC has been slow, despite significant advances in treatment over the past 25 years. Tubal cancer and peritoneal cancer are thought to be similar in their origin, characteristics and treatment strategies. Based upon basic and animal studies, it is thought that copper chelators overcome platinum resistance. Thus, Trientine combined with carboplatin has been used to treat human cancers. The adverse effects (AEs) are acceptable in previously heavily-treated recurrent ovarian cancer patients, however, the treatment responses are limited. Therefore, here the investigators conduct a phase I trial of Trientine®, pegylated doxorubicin and carboplatin to find the dose-limited toxicities, and maximal toxicity dosage, and to explore whether the combination is applicable in epithelial ovarian, tubal and peritoneal cancers.

Epithelial ovarian cancer, tubal, primary peritoneal cancers are lethal gynecologic malignances, with a 5-year survival rate below 25% for patients diagnosed with stage III-IV. Most advanced stage patients respond to cytoreductive surgery and platinum-based chemotherapy; however, \>70% of women relapse, and platinum-resistant EOC is uniformly fatal. Physicians often increase the dosage of cytotoxic agents, or use single or combination second-line agents to overcome the drug resistance. Nevertheless, second-line chemotherapy sometimes may not achieve the expected cytotoxic effect and drug resistance may lead to cancer-specific death. Overcoming resistance is an important strategy for improving the therapeutic efficacy in cisplatin-containing cancer chemotherapy. Cu homeostasis in human cells involves the inter-regulatory circuitry composed of Cu, the high-affinity Cu transporter (hCtr1) and transcription factor Sp1. Human copper transporter 1 (htr1) in humans are also involved in the import of antitumor agent cisplatin (Cp). Earlier the investigators also discovered that the magnitude of hCtr1 expression by Cu chelators depends upon the basal levels of hCtr1 expression, and that high levels of hCtr1 expression can be modulated through Cu deprivation in Cp-resistant (CpR) cells, providing a molecular basis for the development of Cu chelators as Cp resistance reversal agents in the clinical settings. D-penicillamine and Cp act synergistically to inhibit tumor growth. The investigators conduct this trial with combination agents, including LipoDox®, carboplatin and Trientine®, to develop the clinical application of copper chelator in conjunction with cytotoxic agents to conquer platinum-resistance. This trial is practical and is of perspective.