An early stage clinical trial of a drug aimed at preventing chemotherapy resistance in bladder cancer is to get under way, it is announced today.
The trial will test the DNA methyltransferase inhibitor guadecitabine.
Up to 36 patients with advanced solid tumours will be asked to undertake phase 1 testing.
If this shows the drug to be safe, a phase 2 trial will involve 20 patients with bladder cancer for an initial evaluation of its effectiveness.
The drug has been designed to block molecules that modify DNA – and can prevent genes being turned off as part of the development of resistance. It has also been designed for efficient delivery to key tissues, including the bone marrow.
It is already involved in an advanced phase 3 trial for patients with acute myeloid leukaemia.
The project is backed by Cancer Research UK and will be based in Southampton.
Dr Simon Crabb, who is heading the study, said: “Advanced bladder cancer can be a difficult disease to treat and we desperately need to improve our treatment options. Our trial offers a new approach to tackling resistant bladder cancers and there’s promising lab research to suggest it might benefit patients.
“We hope our trial is a success and prompts larger clinical trials to evaluate the benefits of this approach for the thousands of bladder cancer patients in the UK.”
Leave a Reply