A trial looking at patupilone (Epo906) for people with advanced bowel cancer (CINATRA)

This trial looked at a new chemotherapy drug called patupilone for people with bowel cancer (colorectal cancer) that had spread locally, or to other parts of the body (metastatic).

Advanced bowel cancer is usually treated with chemotherapy. Capecitabine, oxaliplatin and irinotecan are some of the standard chemotherapy drugs doctors use. These drugs may help to control the growth of the cancer and to relieve symptoms. But if the cancer continues to grow or comes back, it becomes more difficult to treat.

An earlier phase 1 trial looked at patupilone (also called Epo906) in people who had already had standard chemotherapy for bowel cancer. Some people’s cancer shrank or stayed the same. So the results were promising but they need to be confirmed with a larger number of patients.

Bowel cancers have different types of changes in the DNA. Most have changes called chromosomal instability. A small number have DNA changes called microsatellite instability. Patupilone works by stopping the cancer cells from dividing and multiplying. And doctors think that it may work differently, depending on the type of changes in the cancer’s DNA.

This trial aimed to find out if patupilone

• Could shrink or control the growth of bowel cancer

• Worked better for bowel cancer when the DNA had microsatellite instability rather than chromosomal instability