
Last year in the UK over 60,000 cancer patients enrolled on clinical trials aimed at improving cancer treatments and making them available to all.
This trial looked at a new treatment plan for people with aggressive T cell lymphoma. This is a rare type of Non Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) which is a cancer of the . This trial was supported by Cancer Research UK.
People with rare types of non Hodgkin lymphoma, are usually treated with a combination of chemotherapy and steroids. As with many treatments, doctors are looking for ways to improve on this.
Researchers have been looking at whether outcomes can be improved by using more aggressive chemotherapy followed by a stem cell transplant. Although the numbers of people treated in this way so far have been small, the results are encouraging. So they wanted to see if using this treatment as soon as the lymphoma is diagnosed can help a larger number of people. Through this trial, the research team hoped to
The trial team confirmed that giving high dose chemotherapy followed by a stem cell transplant is a useful treatment for people with rare types of T-cell non Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).
22 people took part in the trial, 15 men and 7 women. Treatment included
Only 14 people went on to have a stem cell transplant
The main side effects from treatment were
5 people had their dose reduced or missed a dose during the IVE or methotrexate chemotherapy due to side effects.
1 year after treatment
The trial team concluded that high dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplant leads to a good outcome for people with rare types of T-cell NHL. They plan to publish more results from this trial in the future. But they also stated that more clinical trials are needed for this group of people and changes to the way trials are organised may be needed to encourage clinical centres to take part in research.
We have based this summary on information from the research team. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists () but may not have been published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the research team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Dr Anne Lennard
Cancer Research UK
Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre
NIHR Clinical Research Network: Cancer
University College London
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Last year in the UK over 60,000 cancer patients enrolled on clinical trials aimed at improving cancer treatments and making them available to all.