A new drug aimed at the DNA of cancer cells could help patients with untreatable disease, a conference has heard.
The drug TAS-102 has been tested on patients with metastatic colorectal cancer that has proved untreatable with standard treatments.
A study involving some 800 patients was reported to the World Congress on Gastrointestinal Cancer in Barcelona, Spain. The event is run by the European Society for Medical Oncology.
About a third of the patients received placebo treatments – but those who had the new drug experienced an average of nearly two months extra life compared with these.
The study was undertaken in 13 countries at 114 centres.
The drug combines trifluridine and tipiracil hydrochloride and gets into the DNA of cancer.
Researcher Takayuki Yoshino of the National Cancer Centre Hospital East in Chiba, Japan, said: "We found a statistically significant difference in overall and progression-free survival, and a clinically meaningful improvement.
"TAS-102 has a mild safety profile and the most common side-effect is haematologic toxicity including neutropenia. Patients with metastatic colorectal cancer refractory to standard therapies now have a strong treatment option."
Professor Jean Yves Douillard, a spokesman for the European Society for Medical Oncology, said: "The phase III trial of TAS-102 is a global study and confirms the results of the phase II study in Japanese patients, whose response to fluoropyrimidine is slightly different to patients in Europe and the US.
"It is good to know that the magnitude of benefit shown in the smaller phase II trial is confirmed in the larger phase III trial and that the results apply to Asians and Caucasians alike."
He added: "TAS-102 was tested in patients who had received all types of chemotherapy available for colorectal cancer. I would probably move this drug into an earlier line of treatment and I would also combine it with either irinotecan or oxaliplatin."
* A major campaign was being launched today in the UK to improve screening for bowel cancer.
Celebrities including Sir Chris Hoy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Fry and Julia Bradbury are backing Bowel Cancer UK’s campaign.
A project at Exeter University, UK, is set to develop new clinical decision methods to identify high-risk patients under the age of 50.
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