Ground-breaking precision medicine trial reaches milestone
A ground-breaking clinical trial is bringing a precision medicine approach to patients with pancreatic cancer for the first time in the UK.
The trial is being run by Precision-Panc, a research programme and clinical trials project led by the University of Glasgow, with funding from Cancer Research UK.
Now, with the trial recently recruiting its 100th patient and rolling out across 16 UK sites, it hopes to offer a potential treatment for those with pancreatic cancer.
As the sixth most common cause of cancer death in the UK, pancreatic cancer has a five-year survival rate of less than 3%. Every year, around 9,800 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, with around 9,000 people dying.
The trial involves each patient undergoing a tumour biopsy to obtain tissue that is then used for molecular profiling at the Glasgow Precision Oncology Laboratory (GPOL) within the University of Glasgow. The results are then used to help match patients to the most appropriate clinical trial.
The ability to link clinical data with the patient’s unique molecular profiling data helps speed up new discoveries and can enhance the delivery of precision medicine to patients.
Professor Andrew Biankin, chief investigator of Precision-Panc, said: “I am extremely proud of what we have been able to achieve so far with Precision Panc. Recruiting the 100th patient is a milestone for us and signals our ability to make real changes to the lives and survival rates of patients with pancreatic cancer.
“The success we have achieved so far – including opening 17 sites across the country – is testament to what we are able to achieve and deliver for patients as a team.”
The project’s overall aim is to bring precision medicine to people with pancreatic cancer through building up knowledge that will allow clinicians to match patients to clinical trials, facilitate drug development and new drug approvals.
Dr Ian Walker, director of clinical research at Cancer Research UK, said: “To make real progress in improving survival for people with pancreatic cancer, we need to understand which drugs will be most likely to provide benefit for individual patients. Through Precision-Panc, we are looking to do just that, and recruiting 100 patients is a huge landmark for this ambitious study.
“While overall survival from cancer has doubled over the last 40 years, pancreatic cancer has only seen little improvement, and too many people die from the disease each year. Innovative studies like Precision-Panc are vital to changing the outlook for these patients and we look forward to seeing how it continues to progress.”