Lucy Wright
An upcoming clinical trial in the US could provide a promising new treatment option for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. The new targeted therapy will be available to patients across the country, from the comfort of their own home.
The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC–James) has set up a new clinical trial to test a novel ‘smart drug’ that targets specific mutations present in some pancreatic cancer patients.
In a first for pancreatic cancer clinical trials, the trial will be entirely remote, with the oral drugs delivered to patients at home. The researchers involved in the study believe this will provide patients with unprecedented access to the latest treatments.
‘This is a game changer for cancer clinical trials and more importantly, patients,’ said Sameek Roychowdhury, a medical oncologist with the OSUCCC–James and principal investigator of the trial.
He noted: ‘Travelling for specialised cancer treatment is often cost-prohibitive for patients experiencing cancer – particularly for rare but aggressive types like pancreatic cancer, where clinical trials can represent the most up-to-date and targeted treatment for advanced disease.’
The treatment being trialled is considered ‘smart’ because it targets specific mutations in fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs). These mutations are found in approximately 1% of pancreatic cancer patients and previous research has shown that they contribute to the aggressive growth of tumours.
Roychowdhury explained: ‘There may be hundreds of gene mutations in someone’s cancer. Discovering which ones are driving how the cancer behaves and treating the mutation with novel therapies is the basis of “smart drug” – or precision cancer medicine – research.’
Pancreatic cancer is a rare but aggressive form of the disease, often diagnosed in later, less treatable stages. Compared with other cancers, targeted treatments have fallen behind, with pancreatic cancer described as ‘the graveyard of cancer treatments’ by Andrew Biankin, Director of the Wolfson Wohl Cancer Research Centre at the University of Glasgow, UK.
Biankin chairs the UK-wide PrecisionPanc programme which uses molecular testing to allocate patients with pancreatic cancer to clinical trials that are right for them. He explained: ‘Very few, if any drugs are developed specifically for pancreatic cancer, as almost all of them have failed. Even the drugs that we have now are very toxic and the benefit is relatively small. So, you’re talking about increasing survival by an average of four months.’
With patient enrolment set to commence in late 2023, the OSUCCC–James trial will offer new hope to patients, progressing the fight against this disease.
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