“I think it’s really important that people keep signing up to these type of trials to push research forward.”
A trial looking at combining PaTrin and irinotecan for bowel cancer that has spread (PAT/103)
Cancer type:
Bowel (colorectal) cancer
Colon cancer
Rectal cancer
Status:
Results
Phase:
Phase 1
This trial looked at a treatment called PaTrin (lomeguatrib) in combination with irinotecan chemotherapy for bowel cancer that has spread.
Doctors often treat bowel cancer (colorectal cancer) with surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. But sometimes, bowel cancer can come back (recur) after these treatments.
Chemotherapy kills cancer cells by damaging the genetic material (DNA). But sometimes cancer cells repair themselves and become resistant to chemotherapy. A protein called ATase helps cancer cells repair their damaged DNA. ATase (also called MGMT) is often found in high levels in many types of cancer cells.
PaTrin works by reducing the amount of ATase in cancer cells so they are less able to repair themselves. This may make cancer cells more sensitive to chemotherapy.
In this trial, doctors gave PaTrin and irinotecan (Campto) together. They hoped that PaTrin would help irinotecan to work better.
The aims of this trial were to find out
- The best dose of PaTrin to give
- What the side effects are
- How well PaTrin and irinotecan work together for advanced bowel cancer
- What happens to PaTrin and irinotecan in the body
Summary of results
The research team found that the combination of PaTrin and irinotecan was safe to use, but that it seemed to work as well as irinotecan alone.
This phase 1 trial recruited 24 people with advanced bowel cancer. Everyone taking part had PaTrin and irinotecan. They had all had other treatment before, but their cancer had continued to grow.
The first few people had the lowest dose of PaTrin. The next few people had a higher dose. And so on, until the research team found the best dose to give. This type of trial is called a dose escalation trial.
The research team looked at the level of ATase (MGMT), and found that it had dropped in all the blood samples.
They also looked at how well PaTrin and irinotecan worked as a treatment for advanced bowel cancer for 22 of the people who took part. They found that
- 1 person’s cancer got smaller
- 16 people’s cancer stayed the same
- 5 people’s cancer continued to grow
The most common side effects of PaTrin and irinotecan were a drop in white blood cells and diarrhoea.
The research team concluded that although the combination of PaTrin and irinotecan was safe to use and it appeared to reduce the level of ATase, the results were similar to irinotecan alone.
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 (
) and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.
Recruitment start:
Recruitment end:
How to join a clinical trial
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Please note - unless we state otherwise in the summary, you need to talk to your doctor about joining a trial.
Chief Investigator
Prof Mark Middleton
Supported by
Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC)
KuDOS Pharmaceuticals Ltd
Freephone 0808 800 4040
Last review date
CRUK internal database number:
Oracle 811
Please note - unless we state otherwise in the summary, you need to talk to your doctor about joining a trial.
Charlie took part in a trial to try new treatments
