Adaptive clinical trials for brain tumours
Adaptive clinical trials are studies made specifically to change as they go on. A trial might change doses, drug types, or approaches depending on the ongoing results. It does this to make the most of its time and money.
On this page:
- What are adaptive clinical trials?
- Why we need adaptive clinical trials for brain tumours
- Adaptive clinical trials we fund
What are adaptive clinical trials?
A clinical trial is a way of testing possible new treatment courses which could prove more effective or cause fewer side effects than those being used.
Traditional clinical trials test only one drug or part of a treatment at a time. Because of this, it can take a few years to see results, whether positive or negative. This isn’t helpful for patients with a high-grade, aggressive tumour.
In an adaptive clinical trial, researchers can add in new drugs or combinations of therapies as the trial goes along, as new drugs become available and in response to the condition of the people involved.
Researchers can also extend or shorten the trial phases depending on how the trial is going.
The effect is to speed up results, with the aim of making more effective and kinder treatments available more quickly.
Why we need adaptive clinical trials for brain tumours
If you have been diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour and have been told that there is no cure available, it is very difficult to understand why you shouldn’t be allowed to try new treatments or combinations of treatments that might extend your life.
This lack of flexibility in clinical trials is partly why there’s been slow progress towards more effective treatments for high-grade brain tumours.
These tumours progress very quickly. There’s just not enough time for someone with a brain tumour diagnosis to take part in different trials. Especially with each of those testing just one possible treatment.
Adaptive clinical trials can speed up the process and focus on the parts that are working or show more promise. This is so valuable for someone diagnosed with a potentially life-threatening brain tumour.
Adaptive clinical trials we fund
The Brain Tumour Charity is currently funding the following adaptive clinical trials:
The Tessa Jowell Adaptive Clinical Trial
We recently announced funding for a brand new adaptive clinical trial lead by the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission. This aims to improve treatments for those diagnosed with a glioma, the most common type of brain tumour.
The flexible design of the trial will give more patients in the UK the opportunity to be part of a clinical trial and access the newest treatments – something that Baroness Tessa Jowell felt strongly about.
We’re currently reviewing applications from researchers who have applied for this funding following input from our patient-led Research Involvement Network. We look forward to the launch of a new trial that will speed up the development of better glioma treatments.
BIOMEDE
BIOMEDE is the UK’s first adaptive trial for children with a brain tumour.
Led by Dr Darren Hargrave and funded by The Brain Tumour Charity, the international trial will test improved treatments for children diagnosed with DIPG – one of the most deadly and aggressive childhood brain cancers.
As an adaptive trial, BIOMEDE is designed in a smart and flexible way that allows clinicians to remove drugs that aren’t working and introduce new drugs without restarting the trial.
This hopefully means a faster, more cost-effective way of getting new and better treatments to children who desperately need them.
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