A trial looking at docetaxel and RAD001 for head and neck cancer that has spread or has come back after treatment (DORA)

Cancer type:

Head and neck cancers
Laryngeal cancer
Mouth (oral) cancer
Nasal and paranasal sinus cancer
Nasopharyngeal cancer
Pharyngeal cancer

Status:

Results

Phase:

Phase 1/2

This trial was trying to find out if having a drug called RAD001 (also called everolimus and Afinitor) at the same time as chemotherapy helped people with head and neck cancer that had spread or had come back after treatment. The trial was for people who had head and neck cancer that had started in the flat, skin like cells lining the cavities of the head and neck. These cells are called squamous cells. You may hear your doctor call this type of cancer squamous cell carcinoma Open a glossary item. This trial was supported by Cancer Research UK.

Doctors often use surgery to treat head and neck cancers. But if head and neck cancer cannot be cured with surgery or comes back after treatment, you may have chemotherapy. Docetaxel is a chemotherapy drug that doctors often use.

RAD001 (also known as Everolimus) is a drug that was first developed for people who have had a heart or kidney transplant. It helps to damp down the immune system to stop the body rejecting the new organ. But we knew from research that RAD001 may also help to stop cancer cells growing.

In this trial, researchers wanted to find out if RAD001 helped people having chemotherapy for head and neck cancer that had spread or come back. The aims of the trial were to

  • Find the best dose of RAD001 to have at the same time as docetaxel
  • See if RAD001 and docetaxel together, worked better than docetaxel alone

Summary of results

This trial was never finished so there are no results available. The researchers were unable to recruit enough patients.

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

Professor Chris Boshoff

Supported by

Cancer Research UK
Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC)
NIHR Clinical Research Network: Cancer
Novartis
Sanofi
University College London (UCL)

Other information

This is Cancer Research UK trial number CRUKE/07/048.

If you have questions about the trial please contact our cancer information nurses

Freephone 0808 800 4040

Last review date

CRUK internal database number:

Oracle 1009

Please note - unless we state otherwise in the summary, you need to talk to your doctor about joining a trial.

Last reviewed:

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