A trial looking at xyotax for breast cancer that has spread (PH2/044)

Cancer type:

Breast cancer

Status:

Results

Phase:

Phase 2

This trial looked at a new drug called xyotax (CT 2103) for breast cancer that has spread to another part of the body. This trial was supported by Cancer Research UK.

Doctors usually use chemotherapy to treat breast cancer that has spread. One group of drugs they use are the ‘taxanes Open a glossary item ', such as paclitaxel (Taxol) or docetaxel (Taxotere). Xyotax is a new form of paclitaxel.

The aims of this trial were to find out

If xyotax is useful for treating breast cancer that has spread
What the side effects are

Summary of results

The results of this trial are mixed. The trial team found that xyotax may be useful for people who had not had a taxane drug before. But they also found that it had some quite severe side effects.

The trial recruited 26 people, 18 people who had had taxanes before and 8 who had not.

The research team were able to analyse the results of 24 patients. They found that the cancer shrank in 4 people, and none of these 4 people had had a taxane before. It stayed the same in 14 people, and it continued to grow in 6 people. It didn’t go away completely for anyone.

The trial team had planned to recruit 60 people for this trial. But xyotax caused nerve damage (neuropathy) in some people taking part, which was sometimes severe. So they decided to stop the trial earlier than planned.

We have based this summary on information from the team who ran the trial. As far as we are aware, the information they sent us has not been reviewed independently (peer reviewed Open a glossary item ) or published in a medical journal yet. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.