Research - clinical trials for stomach cancer

Cancer research trials are carried out to try to find new and better treatments for cancer. Trials that are carried out on patients are known as clinical trials| .

Clinical trials may be carried out to:

• test new treatments, such as new chemotherapy drugs, gene therapy or cancer vaccines
• look at new combinations of existing treatments, or change the way they are given, in order to make them more effective or to reduce side effects
• compare the effectiveness of drugs used to control symptoms
• discover how cancer treatments work
• find out which treatments are the most cost-effective.

Trials are the only reliable way to find out if a different operation, type of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or other treatment is better than what is already available.

Taking part in a trial

You may be asked to take part in a treatment research trial. There can be many benefits in doing this. Trials help to improve knowledge about cancer and develop new treatments. You will also be carefully monitored during and after the study. Usually, several hospitals around the country take part in these trials. It is important to bear in mind that some treatments that look promising at first are often later found not to be as good as existing treatments, or to have side effects that outweigh the benefits.

Blood and tumour samples

Many blood samples and bone marrow or tumour biopsies may be taken to help make the right diagnosis. You may be asked for your permission to use some of your samples for research into cancer. Some samples may be frozen and stored for future use, when new research techniques become available.

The research may be carried out at the hospital where you are treated, or it may be at another hospital. This type of research takes a long time, so you are unlikely to hear the results. The samples will, however, be used to increase knowledge about the causes of cancer and its treatment. This research will hopefully improve the outlook for future patients.

Current research

If you are going to be given chemotherapy before and after surgery to remove a stomach tumour, you may be asked to take part in a trial called STO3. The trial is trying to find out whether adding a drug called bevacizumab to chemotherapy given before and after surgery will improve the results of treatment.

Bevacizumab (Avastin®)| is a type of treatment called a monoclonal antibody. It is given as a drip (infusion) into a vein and works by stopping cancer from being able to make tiny blood vessels to feed itself.

Another cancer study called COUGAR-02 is trying to find out what the best treatment is for people who have stomach cancer that comes back after treatment with chemotherapy. The study is comparing giving treatment with a chemotherapy drug called docetaxel to standard treatment to relieve symptoms.

A trial called REAL 3 is also currently in progress. It is for people with advanced oesophageal cancer or cancer of the gastrooesophageal junction (where the oesophagus meets the stomach). The trial is looking at chemotherapy with or without panitumumab (Vectibix®)| which is a type of monoclonal antibody.