Prof. Hyun-Woong Cho from the Gynecological Cancer Center at Korea University Guro Hospital announced that ‘it may be possible to predict the prognosis of ovarian cancer patients through the ELIMination rate constant K (KELIM)’.

This announcement emerges from an academic collaboration involving Prof. Myong Cheol Lim's research team at the National Cancer Center as well as Prof. Fotopoulou from Imperial College London, UK.

Patient prognosis and treatment response prediction are key factors in treating ovarian cancer, which is characterised by the lowest survival rate among gynecological cancers.

Consequently, there is strong demand for a more reliable prognostic marker.

Addressing this need, the research team conducted a comprehensive meta-analysis of 27 published studies encompassing 14,444 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer.

They employed the ELIMination rate constant K (KELIM) to analyse integrated progression-free survival and overall survival rates.

The analysis revealed that patients categorised within the favourable KELIM score group exhibited a 50% lower rate in both recurrence and survival risk compared to those in the unfavourable score group.

Moreover, the results from this study determined that KELIM could predict treatment response to PARP inhibitors and bevacizumab, an angiogenesis inhibitor, regimens which are utilised frequently today.

KELIM is a novel methodology grounded in mathematical modelling that have the potential to predict patient responses to cancer treatment as well as assess recurrence and survival risks.

This methodology is particularly advantageous for patients as it has shown to have high accuracy rates in predicting treatment responses and prognoses.

Additionally, the costs associated with employing KELIM are minimal, potentially making it a highly accessible and valuable tool in oncological care.

Prof. Hyun-Woong Cho of the Korea University Guro Hospital Gynecological Cancer Center (Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology), the lead author of this study commented: “The findings indicate that employing KELIM in ovarian cancer treatment could be instrumental in predicting treatment responses. This has significant implications for formulating treatment strategies, potentially including the use of anticancer drugs and targeted therapies.”

Prof. Myeong Cheol Lim, the lead researcher of this study, stated, “The future application of KELIM in the treatment of actual ovarian cancer patients holds the promise of achieving precision medicine, enabling personalised treatment approaches tailored to individual patient needs.”

This research was published in the International Journal of Gynecologic Cancer, indexed in Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE).

Source: Korea University College of Medicine