First UK trials of a New Breast Cancer Drug

Trials Offer Hope to People with Breast and Ovarian Cancer

Scientists in Birmingham are running one of the first UK trials of a new drug offering hope to people suffering hereditary forms of both breast and ovarian cancer.

The Cancer Research UK clinical trial is open to patients who have already developed an advanced form of breast or ovarian cancer and have been diagnosed with faults in the known cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1 or BRCA2.

The patients on the phase II trial are receiving a potent anti-cancer drugs known as PARP inhibitors.

Dr Daniel Rea, who is running the trial at the Cancer Research UK Centre in Birmingham, said: “People who inherit faults in these genes have a 50-80 per cent chance of developing cancer.

“Currently people with hereditary forms of breast and ovarian cancer are treated in the same way as every other patient who develops advanced stage disease. We hope this trial will show that by using the PARP inhibitor we can offer them more targeted, effective treatment.”

Mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes are responsible for around five per cent of the 45,500 cases of breast cancer diagnosed annually in the UK and for more than five percent of the 6,615 cases of ovarian cancer diagnosed each year.

If this trial is successful in the long-term, the researchers believe this treatment could offer hope for the future by paving the way for the drug to be used as a preventative treatment.

Dr Nigel Blackburn, Cancer Research UK’s director of drug development – whose team are managing the trial, said: “There is a huge amount of interest in the potential for PARP inhibitors and Cancer Research UK is proud to have pioneered research into this class of drug.”

The phase II trial is now open and is likely to take 18 months to complete. Researchers are aiming to recruit 56 patients.

For more information visit Cancer Research UK’s patient information website www.cancerhelp.org.uk

From the Who We Are Page at Cancer Help Dot Org Uk:

About Cancer Research UK

A scientist working in a laboratory Key facts about Cancer Research UK Cancer Research UK launched in February 2002 following the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and Imperial Cancer Research Fund. We are the world’s leading independent organisation dedicated to cancer research. The charity supports research into all aspects of cancer through the work of more than 4,500 scientists, doctors and nurses. Cancer Research UK is the European leader in the development of novel anti-cancer treatments. We are training the next generation of cancer scientists and doctors. Cancer Research UK employs its own scientists as well as supporting grant-funded researchers based in UK universities, hospitals and institutes. We support research in more than 35 towns across the UK. All the research we support is subject to stringent peer review by external specialists in the relevant fields.