University drug trial for cancer patients

AN experimental drug to treat patients with head and neck cancer is being trialled by the University of Birmingham.

The Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit is testing whether Astra Zeneca’s AZD1775 experimental compound reduces the risk of the cancer returning fatr conventional treatment.

It also wants to establish if a combination of AZD1775 and chemotherapy before surgery decreases the need for further treatment afterwards.

Professor Hisham Mehanna, of the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Studies at the University of Birmingham, said: “Many patients diagnosed with aggressive types of head and neck cancer are at a high risk of relapse after surgery, so we urgently need to find new ways to treat the disease and reduce the risk of it returning.

“We hope that combining this drug with chemotherapy will mean that treatment is more effective, helping more people survive, and that those cured will have a better quality of life after treatment.”

The scheme has been launched through the Combinations Alliance – a joint initiative between Cancer Research UK and the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centres (ECMC) Network.

The trial, called WISTERIA, is the first Combinations Alliance clinical trial to be sponsored by the University of Birmingham and will be conducted at five centres across the UK including the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Edgbaston.

There will be two groups of up to 21 patients taking part in the trial. The first group will receive AZD1775 with chemotherapy before surgery and the second will receive AZD1775 in addition to chemotherapy and radiotherapy after surgery.

Dr Ian Walker, Cancer Research UK’s director of clinical research, said: “We’re excited to have the opportunity to trial this new drug through our Combinations Alliance initiative.

“The initiative allows us to bring together combinations of treatments, using drugs that are in development, that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.

“And we look forward to seeing if this drug can improve treatment options for patients with head and neck cancer.”