A trial looking at a drug called L-NNA for people with advanced cancer

Cancer type:

All cancer types

Status:

Results

Phase:

Phase 1

This was a study to learn more about a drug called L-NNA. The trial was supported by Cancer Research UK.

Cancers need a blood supply to help them grow and survive. Cancer cells can stimulate new blood vessels to grow. This is called angiogenesis. Drugs that block cancer blood vessel growth are called anti angiogenics.

This study was looking at a new drug called L-NNA, which had only been tested in a small number of people before. It blocks a protein that is involved in controlling blood flow to cancers and possibly the growth of new blood vessels. The main aims of this study were to

Find the highest dose of L-NNA you can have safely
Learn more about side effects
Find out what happens to L-NNA in the body

Summary of results

The trial stopped early before the highest safe dose of L-NNA had been found.

The trial aimed to recruit up to 27 people. But part way through, the economic situation forced Cancer Research UK to carry out a review of all the trials their Drug Development Office was funding. As a result of this, some trials were closed early. This was one of the trials they decided to stop.

At that point, 4 people had had a single dose of L-NNA through a drip into a vein.

3 people had the lowest dose of L-NNA
1person had a slightly higher dose
None of them had any serious side effects.

Blood samples taken at regular intervals after having L-NNA showed a wide variation in the amount of the drug in the bloodstream. But this was similar to results from an earlier trial of the drug.

As the trial stopped early, the researchers were not able to draw any conclusions about how well the drug worked, what happened to it in the body or what the highest safe dose would be.

We have based this summary on information from the team who ran the trial. As far as we are aware, the information they sent us has not been reviewed independently (peer reviewed Open a glossary item ) or published in a medical journal yet. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.