Observation of the therapeutic effect of apatinib in advanced platinum-resistant recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer

BACKGROUND: Apatinib is an oral anti-angiogenic drug that mainly targets vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR-2) and is widely used in a variety of solid tumours. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of apatinib in patients with advanced platinum-resistant relapsed epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed, the clinical data of patients with stage IIIC-IV platinum-resistant relapsed EOC between January 2014 and May 2018 were collected. The objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were reviewed and evaluated. The propensity score matching (PSM) method was used to determine the final case data included in this study. RESULTS: According to 1:2 propensity matching, 108 patients were finally taken into account: 36 in the apatinib group and 72 in the control group. The follow-up ended in January 2019, and the median follow-up time was 28 months. In the apatinib group, ORR was 30.56% and DCR was 66.67%, whereas in the control group, ORR was 16.67% and DCR was 44.44%. In the apatinib group, median PFS was 6.0 months (95% CI 3.69–8.31) and median OS was 15.8 months (95% CI 6.99–24.6), while in the control group, median PFS was 3.3 months (95% CI 2.44–4.16) and median OS was 9.2 months (95% CI 6.3–12.06); the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Apatinib was more effective than conventional chemotherapy in reducing the risk of PFS [HR 0.40 (95% CI 0.22–0.76), P = 0.0017] and OS [HR 0.40 (95% CI 0.21–0.73), P = 0.002]. Multivariate Cox analysis showed that the course of treatment and decrease in serum CA125 levels are independent risk factors for PFS in patients, while apatinib, the length of treatment course and the location of the lesion are independent risk factors for recurrence affecting the OS of patients. The main grade 3–4 adverse events in the apatinib group were hypertension, hand-foot syndrome, and oral mucosal ulcers, and all adverse events were controllable. CONCLUSION: Apatinib was found to be both safe and effective in patients with advanced platinum-resistant relapsed EOC. More in-depth clinical research and applications should be carried out.