
"I am glad that taking part in a trial might help others on their own cancer journey.”
Please note - this trial is no longer recruiting patients. We hope to add results when they are available.
This trial is looking at a new drug called ganetespib (pronounced ga-net-es-pib) alongside docetaxel chemotherapy for non small cell lung cancer that has spread.
If non small cell lung cancer has spread into lymph nodes on the other side of your chest, surrounding tissues, or to another part of your body, it is called advanced non small cell lung cancer. Doctors usually treat advanced non small cell lung cancer with chemotherapy that includes a such as cisplatin or carboplatin.
But sometimes the cancer starts to grow again during or after platinum chemotherapy. If this happens you may have more chemotherapy. Docetaxel is a chemotherapy drug that doctors can use. In this trial, researchers are looking at a new drug called ganetespib alongside docetaxel.
Ganetespib is a type of biological therapy called a heat shock protein 90 inhibitor. It stops signals that cancer cells use to divide and grow. Ganetespib may help to slow or stop the growth of lung cancer.
The aims of this trial are to
You may be able to enter this trial if
You cannot enter this trial if
This international phase 3 trial will recruit about 850 people. It is randomised trial. The people taking part are put into treatment groups by computer. Neither you nor your doctor can decide which group you are in.
One group have docetaxel through a drip into a vein once every 3 weeks.
The other group have docetaxel through a drip into a vein once every 3 weeks. And they also have ganetespib through a drip into a vein twice in every 3 weeks. They have it on the same day they have docetaxel and 2 weeks later.
As long as you don’t have bad side effects, you can carry on having treatment for as long as your doctor agrees it is helping you.
You will see the doctors and have some tests before you start treatment. The tests include
The trial team will get a sample of your tissue taken when you had surgery or a in the past. If there isn’t a sample available, you will need to have a biopsy.
You go to hospital 2 to 4 times in each 3 week cycle of treatment. You have regular blood tests throughout the treatment and more heart traces. You have a CT scan or MRI scan every 6 weeks.
The trial team will ask you to fill out a questionnaire before you start treatment, 6 weeks later, 12 weeks later and at the end of treatment. The questionnaire will ask about side effects and how you’ve been feeling. This is called a quality of life study.
When you stop the trial treatment, a member of the research team will contact you by phone every 6 weeks to see how you are.
If you stop the treatment for any reason other than your cancer getting worse, the researchers will ask you to have a CT or MRI scan every 6 weeks until your cancer does start to get worse, or you start another type of treatment.
As ganetespib is a new drug, there may be side effects we don’t know about yet. In the other trials, the most common side effects were
We have more information about the side effects of docetaxel.
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Professor Fennell
Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC)
NIHR Clinical Research Network: Cancer
Synta Pharmaceuticals
If you have questions about the trial please contact our cancer information nurses
Freephone 0808 800 4040
"I am glad that taking part in a trial might help others on their own cancer journey.”