Skin cancer
clinical trials
PACMEL: PAClitaxel with or without GSK1120212 for treatment of MELanoma
Advanced melanoma is usually treated with paclitaxel, but it is not always effective. This randomised phase II study tests whether combining paclitaxel with one of two cell growth inhibitors, trametinib or pazopanib, will improve the treatment. Trametinib is a general cell growth inihibtor, while pazopanib is a cancer cell growth inhibitor.
The first stage of the study also tested the best dose of trametinib to give with paclitaxel.
This study is run by OCTO and funded by CRUK.
Sharon Love and Corran Roberts
RADVAN: radiotherapy and vandetanib for melanoma that has spread to the brain
Brain metastases from melanoma are difficult to treat and often cannot be operated on. Whole brain radiotherapy is then usually used, but it is not always effective.
Vandetanib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that can make cancer cells more sensitive to radiotherapy. This randomised phase II trial tested whether using vandetanib with radiotherapy could improve treatment for melanoma that has spread to the brain.
This OCTO-run trial closed to recruitment in April 2014, due to difficulty in recruiting. The patients that had been recruited are being followed as planned.