Patients with rectal cancer recruited to new clinical trial

UCLH has opened recruitment to a new study looking at a novel treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer.

The first participant has been recruited and has received their first dose of an oncolytic immunotherapy at the NIHR UCLH Clinical Research Facility.

They said: “I would like this new treatment to not only help me, but many other people with cancer. My father died of rectal cancer, so I want to help find better treatments for people now and in the future.”

The study, led by UCLH consultant radiotherapist Professor Maria Hawkins, is called FORTRESS, and is testing the safety and efficacy of NG-350A, the first oncolytic immunotherapy of its type to be administered at UCLH.

The drug is given before chemoradiotherapy, the standard initial treatment for locally advanced rectal cancer, or LARC.

NG-350A, which is administered as an intravenous infusion, is designed to reach and enter solid tumours, carrying an antibody that activates antigen presenting cells, subsequently driving the immune system to attack the cancerous cells, without impacting healthy cells.

The aim is to develop a therapy for people with LARC that enables them to potentially avoid surgical interventions that today are standard practice following chemoradiotherapy.

Professor Hawkins said: “We are delighted to participate in the early testing of a novel way of targeting cancer and contribute to the development of next-generation oncolytic immunotherapies to improve outcomes in colorectal malignancies.”

Colorectal cancer is the fourth most prevalent cancer in the UK, of which rectal cancer is a subset. LARC, which occurs in approximately 60% of rectal cancer patients, is defined by the spread of the rectal cancer to nearby tissues or lymph nodes.

In patients with LARC, tumours have either grown through muscle and into the outermost layers of the rectum, or in more severe cases, through the wall of the rectum, where they may attach to other organs or structures and/or into the lymph nodes.

The study, which is taking place at centres in the US and the UK, will involve approximately 30 patients and is sponsored by Akamis Bio.

For more information, see the study entry in the UCLH clinical trials database: https://findastudy.uclh.nhs.uk/trial/6895d2d4bdb63737847165e7/view. If you wish to enquire about participation, please speak to your GP in the first instance.