
“I was keen to go on a clinical trial. I wanted to try new cancer treatments and hopefully help future generations.”
This trial looked at either ixabepilone with bevacizumab (Avastin) or paclitaxel (Taxol) with bevacizumab for breast cancer that has come back after treatment.
The main treatments for breast cancer are surgery, radiotherapy, hormone therapy and chemotherapy. You may have one, some, or all of these treatments and they generally work well. But unfortunately breast cancer can come back after treatment.
Doctors may treat breast cancer that has come back with chemotherapy or hormone therapy. Paclitaxel is a chemotherapy drug they often use. Ixabepilone is one of a group of chemotherapy drugs known as epothilone analogues. They work in a similar way to paclitaxel.
Bevacizumab is a type of biological therapy called a monoclonal antibody. In this trial, the researchers looked at different ways of having ixabepilone and bevacizumab. They also looked at a combination of paclitaxel and bevacizumab.
The aims of the study were to
The trial team found that ixabepilone and bevacizumab could be a useful treatment for breast cancer that has come back after treatment.
This trial recruited 123 people. They were put into 1 of 3 groups at random.
The research team found that the cancer responded to treatment in
When they looked at how many people were living a year after treatment, they found it was similar in all 3 groups
They also looked at the side effects. They found that more people in group B had serious side effects. The most common side effect was a drop in the number of white blood cells called neutrophils. This affected
So overall the research team found that having ixabepilone every 3 weeks worked best but caused more side effects. Having ixabepilone 3 times in every 4 weeks didn’t work as well, but caused fewer side effects. They concluded that ixabepilone and bevacizumab was promising as a treatment for breast cancer that has spread.
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.
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Dr. Mark Verrill
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC)
If you have questions about the trial please contact our cancer information nurses
Freephone 0808 800 4040
“I was keen to go on a clinical trial. I wanted to try new cancer treatments and hopefully help future generations.”