A trial looking at olaparib for small cell lung cancer (STOMP)
Cancer type:
Status:
Phase:
This trial looked at having olaparib as a 
for people with small cell lung cancer (SCLC). It was for people who already had one treatment and most or all of their cancer had gone away.
Cancer Research UK supported this trial. The trial was open for people to join between 2013 and 2015. The team published the results in 2022.
More about this trial
When this trial was done, or chemotherapy and radiotherapy () were usual treatments for small cell lung cancer. The cancer often comes back after treatment. Researchers wanted to see if olaparib could delay or prevent this from happening. They thought having long term olaparib might help. This is called maintenance treatment.
Olaparib is a PARP inhibitor. It stops a protein called PARP from working. PARP helps damaged cells to repair themselves.
This was a randomised trial:
- 2 out of every 3 people who took part had olaparib and
- 1 out of every 3 people had a dummy drug (
placebo )
Everyone had treatment for up to 2 years. This was for as long as the treatment was working and the side effects weren’t too bad.
The main aims of this trial were to find out:
- how well olaparib works as a maintenance treatment
- how treatment affects
quality of life - more about the side effects
Summary of results
A total of 220 people took part in this trial:
- 73 had olaparib tablets twice a day
- 73 had olaparib tablets 3 times a day
- 74 had a dummy drug. They either had this twice or 3 times a day.
The team looked at:
- how long before the cancer started to grow again
- how long people lived
- how treatment affected quality of life
They found no difference in any of these between the 3 groups.
Side effects
Most people taking part had at least 1 side effect. Many of these were mild or didn’t last long.
The most common side effects of olaparib included:
- tiredness (fatigue)
- feeling or being sick
- a drop in the number of red blood cells (
anaemia ) - a drop in the number of
white blood cells - coughs, colds, chest infections or high temperatures
Some people had more severe side effects. This was:
- 38 out of 73 people (53%) who had olaparib twice a day
- 36 out of 73 people (49%) who had olaparib 3 times a day
- 33 out of 74 people (45%) who had the dummy drug
In the olaparib groups, the most common severe side effects included:
- a drop in red and white blood cells
- tiredness
214 people stopped treatment early. In 66 people this was due to side effects. This happened in:
- 48 people who had olaparib
- 18 people who had the dummy drug
We have more information about the side effects of olaparib.
Conclusion
The trial team found that the side effects of olaparib were manageable. They concluded that having olaparib as a maintenance treatment wasn’t useful for this group of people. It didn’t work better than having a dummy drug.
The team say that having olaparib or a similar drug in combination with an might be a useful treatment. They suggest doing trials that look at this combination of treatment.
Sometimes trials show a different treatment isn’t useful for a particular type or of cancer. But these trials still add to our knowledge and understanding of cancer and how to treat it.
More detailed information
There is more information about this research in the reference below.
Please note, the information we link to here is not in plain English. It has been written for healthcare professionals and researchers.
Olaparib as maintenance treatment in patients with chemosensitive small
cell lung cancer (STOMP): A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled
phase II trial
P Woll and others
Lung Cancer, 2022. Volume 171, pages 26-33.
Where this information comes from
We have based this summary on the information in the article above. This has been reviewed by independent specialists () and published in a medical journal. We have not analysed the data ourselves. As far as we are aware, the link we list above is active and the article is free and available to view.
Recruitment start:
Recruitment end:
How to join a clinical trial
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Chief Investigator
Professor Penella Woll
Supported by
AstraZeneca
Cancer Research UK
Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC)
NIHR Clinical Research Network: Cancer
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Other information
This is Cancer Research UK trial number CRUK/10/037.
If you have questions about the trial please contact our cancer information nurses
Freephone 0808 800 4040
