Cancer drug trial begins in Oxford
28 Apr 2011 by Evoluted New Media
An international trial of a novel drug to treat lung cancer patients who have stopped responding to initial chemotherapy treatment is to begin in Oxford
An international trial of a novel drug to treat lung cancer patients who have stopped responding to initial chemotherapy treatment is to begin in Oxford
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An Oxford trial will test a new drug to treat lung cancer |
The phase II trial will investigate LY2181308, a new drug which will be tested in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who no longer respond to platinum chemotherapy, the standard initial treatment.
LY2181308 blocks the ability of cancer cells to make survivin – a protein which instructs cells to grow and prevents cell death. This combination of ‘immortal’ cells with uncontrolled growth leads to cancer, and raised levels of survivin are frequently found in tumours – preventing its production kills cancer cells. The drug will target only cancerous cells – as survivin is rarely found in healthy tissue – which is key in reducing side effects.
A group led by Dr Dennis Talbot – chief investigator and a Cancer Research UK clinician at the University of Oxford – carried out pre-clinical work for the drug showed that it was effective in lung cancer cells. They analysed biopsies from patients before and after the received the drug and developed laboratory techniques to prove survivin levels went down in lung cancer patients receiving the drug.
“It’s greatly encouraging that we’re able to take this new experimental drug to treat lung cancer into further development. We hope it may increase survival targets for lung cancer patient,” said Dr Denis Talbot, chief investigator. “We’ll look forward to the results of this trial with great interest.”
The early-stage trial will consist of two elements. One group will receive docetaxal – one of two standard chemotherapy treatments for those whose cancer has progressed after platinum-based chemotherapy – on its own. The other will receive LY2181308 alongside docetaxal.
The project is one of the first to take place at the new Oxford Cancer Research Centre – a partnership between the University of Oxford, Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals and Cancer Research UK. Funded by Eli Lilly and Company and managed by ICON plc, it also includes four other UK centres, nine centres in the US and several across Belgium Germany, Italy and Poland.
