A trial looking at a drug called BPA in people with a glioblastoma multiforme brain tumour (PH1/093)

This trial looked at a drug called Boron Phenylalanine (BPA). The people taking part had a brain tumour called high grade glioma. The trial was supported by Cancer Research UK.

Doctors usually treat fast growing, or high grade brain tumours with surgery, to remove as much of the cancer as possible. They then treat any remaining cancer with radiotherapy. But there is a limit to the amount of brain radiotherapy you can have safely.

Boron Phenylalanine (BPA) may help radiotherapy to kill more cancer cells. It is not a cancer treatment on its own but it can make brain tumour cells more sensitive to radiation. Having BPA might mean people could have a lower dose of radiotherapy, but researchers wanted to find out more about BPA.

The aims of this trial were to

• See what happens to BPA in the body

• Find the best way of giving BPA

• Learn more about the side effects of BPA

• Find the best dose of BPA to give