Vintafolide is a medicine used to treat adults with a certain type of cancer called advanced, unresectable or metastatic folate receptor alpha (FRα)-positive platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian cancer. It is a combination of an antibody (vitamin folate) and a chemotherapy drug (etarfolatide). The antibody attaches to a protein on the surface of the cancer cells, which helps the chemotherapy drug to enter and destroy them. Vintafolide is usually given in combination with another chemotherapy drug called pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD).
Vintafolide is an investigational drug currently under development, meaning it's not yet widely available for prescription. Here's what we know about it:
Type of medication:
- Vintafolide is a folate-targeted chemotherapeutic conjugate. This means it combines a molecule that targets folate receptors with a chemotherapy drug.
How it works:
- Vintafolide targets folate receptors, which are proteins found on the surface of many cancer cells, particularly ovarian cancer.
- Healthy cells also have folate receptors, but some cancers have a much higher number.
- By attaching to the folate receptor, Vintafolide delivers the chemotherapy drug directly to the cancer cell.
- Once inside the cancer cell, the chemotherapy drug is released and disrupts cell division, leading to cancer cell death.
Conditions being studied for:
- Vintafolide is primarily being studied for the treatment of folate receptor-positive, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. This means it targets ovarian cancers that have high levels of folate receptors and have not responded well to platinum-based chemotherapy, a common first-line treatment.
Clinical development stage:
- Vintafolide has undergone clinical trials (research studies with patients) and a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) filing for vintafolide and its companion diagnostic (etarfolatide) has been accepted by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
- However, it's not yet approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Important considerations:
- Since Vintafolide is investigational, more research is needed to confirm its long-term safety and efficacy.
- It is only available to patients participating in clinical trials.
- Vintafolide is likely to have side effects similar to other chemotherapy drugs.
Additional information:
- A companion diagnostic test called etarfolatide is used to identify patients with folate receptor-positive ovarian cancer who might benefit from Vintafolide treatment.