
"He went through six operations and was placed on a clinical trial so he could try new treatments.”
This trial looked at a new drug called AT9283 for children and young people with a solid tumour (not ) or
that had started to grow again after treatment.
This trial was supported by Cancer Research UK.
This trial was for children and young people from age 2 up to and including the age of 18.
AT9283 stops a protein called aurora kinase working. Aurora kinase is important for cells to divide and grow. Some cancers have too much aurora kinase. These are often cancers that don’t respond to treatment or come back after treatment. Doctors hoped that if they could block aurora kinase, they could stop the cancer growing.
The aims of this trial were to find out:
The researchers found the best dose of AT9283 to give to children and young people with solid tumours.
This was a phase 1 trial. 33 children and young people took part and everyone had at least one dose of AT9283.
The first few children and young people taking part in this trial had the lowest dose of AT9283. The next few people taking part had a higher dose. And so on, until the trial team found the best dose to give. This is called ‘dose escalation’.
The children and young people were put into 6 groups. Each group had a higher dose of AT9283 than the group before.
The children and young people had AT9283 through their central line into a vein for 72 hours (3 days), once every 3 weeks.
Each 3 week period was one cycle of treatment.
They had up to 6 cycles if they remained well enough for treatment and didn’t have any serious side effects. Then if tests showed that the treatment was working well they were able to have more than 6 cycles while they were still on the trial.
2 children and young people had 6 cycles. One child or young person had more than 6 cycles of AT9283. And they are still receiving AT9283.
The researchers were able to look at scan and test results of 22 children or young people at different points during the trial. 8 of them had a time where their cancer did not get better or worse (doctors call this stable disease). For 3 this was for 4 or more cycles of treatment.
Overall
The trial team looked at the side effects of AT9283. The most common side effects included:
The research team found the best dose to give children and young people. This was not the highest dose AT9283 given to group 6, but a slightly lower dose given to group 5. The researchers also concluded AT9283 was safe to use for this group of children and young people.
They also learned more about what happens to AT9283 in the body () and how it works in the body (
).
The researchers suggest further trials looking at AT9283, possibly in combination with different treatments.
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Dr Darren Hargrave
Astex Therapeutics Ltd
Cancer Research UK (Centre for Drug Development)
Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG)
NIHR Clinical Research Network: Cancer
This is Cancer Research UK trial number CRUKD/09/044.
Freephone 0808 800 4040
"He went through six operations and was placed on a clinical trial so he could try new treatments.”