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Combination Chemotherapy for Liver Cancer
Untitled Document
Name of the Trial
Phase II Study of Doxorubicin and Bortezomib in Patients With Hepatocellular
Carcinoma (ECOG-E6202). See the protocol
abstract.
Principal Investigators
Dr. Jordan Berlin, Dr. Bruce Giantonio, and Dr. William Chapman, Eastern Cooperative
Oncology Group.
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Dr. Jordan Berlin
Principal Investigator |
Why This Trial Is Important
Hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) is expected to kill more than 15,000
Americans in 2005. Surgery is the only known curative treatment for this type
of cancer, but fewer than 20 percent of patients are eligible for surgery. Although
some patients may benefit from local
treatments other than surgery, most patients
with inoperable liver cancer are treated with systemic
chemotherapy.
Treatment with the drug doxorubicin has provided the best results so far for
liver cancer patients with inoperable tumors. Unfortunately, fewer than 20 percent
of patients respond to treatment with doxorubicin. In this clinical trial, researchers
are adding a new drug called bortezomib to chemotherapy with doxorubicin to
see if it can cause liver tumors to shrink or stop growing better than doxorubicin
alone. Bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor, blocks the activity of a number of
proteins important for cell survival, tumor growth, and angiogenesis (the formation
of new blood vessels to the tumor). In other types of cancer, bortezomib has
been shown to delay tumor growth and enhance the cell-killing effects of chemotherapy.
"Results from our laboratory studies suggest that combining doxorubicin
and bortezomib is more effective against liver cancer than either agent alone,"
said Dr. Berlin. "We hope that by adding bortezomib to the standard treatment
for liver cancer, we can better control this difficult-to-treat disease."
Contact Information
This clinical trial is no longer accepting new patients. To locate other clinical trials for liver cancer,
search the NCI database of clinical trials or call the NCI's Cancer Information
Service at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237). The toll-free call is completely confidential.
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