New drug shows promise in slowing growth of bowel cancer

A new drug has shown promise in slowing the regrowth of tumours among some bowel cancer patients, according to new findings of a major trial run by researchers at UCL in collaboration with Oxford, Leeds and Cardiff universities. The results of the FOCUS4-C trial, which was funded by Cancer Research UK, the EME Programme - an MRC/NIHR partnership - and AstraZeneca, will be presented on Saturday (18 September) at the European Society of Medical Oncology and published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology . The trial looked at whether a drug called adavosertib, taken in the form of a daily pill, could delay tumour regrowth among patients with an aggressive sub-type of inoperable bowel cancer who have limited treatment options. Comparing 44 patients who took adavosertib with 25 patients who did not, the researchers found that the drug delayed tumour growth by about two months on average and had relatively few side effects. The drug had more effect in the 31 patients with left-sided/rectal tumours, increasing overall survival - that is, patients lived longer. The researchers caution that these are early results and that larger trials are needed to establish whether the drug improves survival compared to standard treatment. The trial tested adavosertib among patients who were on a treatment break following chemotherapy but the drug could potentially benefit patients with other types of bowel cancer or alongside standard treatments in other lines of therapy.