A trial looking at chemotherapy for advanced cancer of the stomach or gastro oesophageal junction that has continued to grow (PEP0206)

This trial showed PEP02 was as good as docetaxel and a little better than irinotecan for advanced cancer of the stomach or gastro oesophageal junction.

This trial recruited 132 people from several countries around the world. Everyone who took part had advanced cancer which had continued to grow despite having other treatment.

The people taking part were put into one of 3 treatment groups at random, so there were 44 people in each group. They all had treatment once every 3 weeks, for as long as it was helping.

• Group 1 had PEP02
• Group  2 had irinotecan  
• Group 3 had docetaxel

The research team looked at how many people’s cancer got smaller. They were able to assess this in 124 people who took part. They found that the cancer got smaller in

• 6 out of 41 people who had PEP02
• 3 out of 43 people who had irinotecan
• 7 out of 40 people who had docetaxel

They also looked at how long it was before the cancer started to grow and how long the people taking part lived for. These were similar in all 3 groups.

When they looked at the side effects, they found that more people who had irinotecan or PEP02 had side effects compared to those who had docetaxel. The most common side effect of PEP02 and irinotecan was diarrhoea. The most common side effect of docetaxel was hair loss.

The research team concluded that in this trial, PEP02 and docetaxel worked about as well as each other, but a little better than irinotecan.

We have based this summary on information from the team who ran the trial. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed ) and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.