
Last year in the UK over 60,000 cancer patients enrolled on clinical trials aimed at improving cancer treatments and making them available to all.
When the trial started olaparib was available as a capsule. During the time of the trial olaparib changed to a tablet. The drug company thought a tablet might be better than a capsule.
This means that it was harder to draw firm conclusions from the results of the trial.
The team found that further studies need to be done to find the best dose of olaparib for blood cancers. But that the results suggest that it may help people live longer.
This trial closed in 2015. These results were published in 2018.
About this trial
The researchers planned this trial to have 2 parts.
The 1st part was to find the best dose of olaparib capsule to give. The 2nd part was to find out how well olaparib worked.
The team couldn’t do the 2nd part because the people they needed were taking part in other clinical trials.
These are the results of the 1st part of the trial.
This was a phase 1 trial. 15 people took part. Everyone had olaparib.
The first few people had a low dose and if they didn’t have any severe side effects the next few had a higher dose. And so on until the best dose to give was found.
The last 6 people to join the trial had olaparib as a tablet. So, 9 people had olaparib as a capsule and 6 had it as a tablet.
Results
The team found the best dose of olaparib capsule to give that doesn’t cause unacceptable side effects.
The trial stopped before the team could complete the process of finding the best dose for olaparib tablets.
They looked at the average overall time people lived. For all 15 people it was just over 4 months.
The average length of time for the people who had tablets was just over 4 months. The average length of time for people who had capsules was just over 3½ months.
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Dr Guy Pratt
AstraZeneca
Bloodwise
Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC)
NIHR Clinical Research Network: Cancer
University of Birmingham
If you have questions about the trial please contact our cancer information nurses
Freephone 0808 800 4040
Last year in the UK over 60,000 cancer patients enrolled on clinical trials aimed at improving cancer treatments and making them available to all.