
“I think it’s really important that people keep signing up to these type of trials to push research forward.”
This trial looked at a drug called plerixafor for people with pancreatic cancer or bowel cancer that has spread.
The trial was open for people to join between 2015 and 2018. The team published the results in 2020.
Plerixafor is a type of immunotherapy. Laboratory studies had shown that it may help immune cells get into the cancers, and help kill them. When this trial was done, plerixafor was already being used in the treatment of some people with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma.
The research team wanted to find out of plerixafor can help immune cells get into pancreatic cancer and bowel cancer.
They took samples of cancer tissue (biopsies) from people with these cancers before and after they had plerixafor.
The main aims of this trial were to find out:
The research team found that plerixafor can help immune cells get into pancreatic and bowel cancers.
Trial design
This trial was for people with pancreatic cancer or bowel (colorectal) cancer that had spread.
The trial was in 2 parts.
In part 1, people had different doses of plerixafor. The first few people had the lowest dose. They didn’t have any serious side effects, so the next few people had a higher dose. And so on, until they found the best dose to give. This is called dose escalation.
The research team used the results of part 1 to decide which dose was best to use in future studies.
In part 2, everyone had the same dose of plerixafor. This is called dose expansion.
Everyone had plerixafor continuously for 7 days, through a PICC line (peripherally inserted central line). The line was attached to a small, portable pump.
The researchers took samples of the cancer before and after treatment. They compared the number and type of immune cells in the cancer samples.
Results
A total of 26 people joined this trial:
24 of them went on to have treatment.
There were 7 people in part 2, the dose expansion part of the trial. They all had the 3rd dose used in part 1.
The effect on cancer cells
There are several types of cells and proteins involved when our immune system responds to cancer. These include:
The results of this trial showed that, after plerixafor, there was an increase in:
How well treatment worked
The research team looked at how well treatment worked in 23 people who took part. This wasn’t the main aim of the trial. And it’s difficult to draw any firm conclusions with such small numbers of people.
They found that the cancer had:
Conclusion
The research team concluded that plerixafor helped increase the number of immune system cells within pancreatic and bowel cancers.
They suggest a longer course of plerixafor is looked at in other trials, possibly alongside immunotherapy treatments.
Where this information comes from
We have based this summary on information from the research team. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists () and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team who did the research. We have not analysed the data ourselves.
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Professor Duncan Jodrell
Cambridge Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC)
Cambridge Clinical Trials Unit
Cambridge NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre
Cancer Research UK – Cambridge Institute
Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C)
The Lustgarten Foundation
University of Cambridge
Freephone 0808 800 4040
“I think it’s really important that people keep signing up to these type of trials to push research forward.”