Patients with several different types of treatment-resistant cancer received the experimental drug, called quisinostat. It was the first time the drug has been given to patients.
The trial, led by Dr Udai Banerji and Professor Johann de Bono, aimed to work out the dose that would give the best balance between effectiveness against cancer and the side effects of treatment. The results are published in Clinical Cancer Research.
The trial was carried out in 92 patients with advanced cancer at several University hospitals throughout the UK, and was funded by Janssen Research and Development LLC. Patients received a range of different amounts of active drug, and were monitored closely over several months of treatment.
Drug development at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) and The Royal Marsden has a rich experience and specialised facilities for carrying out phase I trials for this type of drug, which have unique challenges such as intensive cardiac monitoring , which was needed for this study.
The trial showed that the drug was safe to move into a phase II trial, which will look at its effectiveness against cancer. A pill containing 12mg of quisinostat, taken on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, should give the best balance between effectiveness and side effects.
Dr Udai Banerji, Cancer Research UK Senior Lecturer at the ICR and Honorary Consultant at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“Quisinostat is one member of a family of promising potential drugs called HDAC inhibitors, which target a fundamental process in cancer cells and could eventually be used to fight several different types of advanced cancer.
Histone-deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors interfere with the packaging of DNA within cells and lead to the degradation of cancer-causing genes in cancer cells. Several HDAC inhibitors have shown promise in fighting cancer, including two treatments called vorinostat and romidepsin, which are licensed in the USA as treatments for lymphoma.