Sheffield breast cancer patient takes part in new drug research trial

A SHEFFIELD patient has become the first in the world to take part in a new drug research trial aiming to better control secondary breast cancer, or cancer which has spread to other parts of the body including the bones, liver and lungs for longer.

Metastatic breast cancer is an incurable disease, which may affect patients many years after their initial breast cancer diagnosis. Although there are many treatments for the disease the benefits with each one are only temporary – and typically last only a few months or a year or two.

Ellen Paling, 44, of Chapeltown, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002 just a year after her daughter, now 13, was born, says that since taking part in the international MANTA study, the disease has remained stable with no new areas of spread. The cancer – which has reoccurred twice since 2002, once in February 2012 and again earlier this year – was diagnosed as metastatic breast cancer almost three years ago.

The MANTA study is led by Prof Peter Schmid, Centre for Experimental Cancer Medicine, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, in partnership with hospitals across Europe – including Weston Park Hospital.

Researchers taking part in the study are pioneering the use of a new drug in partnership with global drugs company Astrazeneca and the National Institute for Health Research’s Clinical Research Network including the Yorkshire and Humber Network, called a dual mTOR inhibitor that is designed to block one of the pathways that causes cancerous cells to divide and grow.

The international trial is being run from four countries, including the UK, Germany, Spain and Portugal, with sites in five additional countries due to start running the trial soon. The study could be pivotal in helping find new treatments that will control secondary breast cancer more often and last longer.

Ellen, who says the hardest thing about living with the disease has been talking to her daughter about it, said: “Treatments for breast cancer have come a long way since I was first diagnosed with the disease. Cancer affects so many people, aunties, friends, daughters, fathers, neighbours, and not many people like to talk about cancer that can only be temporarily treated. Just coming into Weston Park Hospital, which is a specialist cancer hospital, you realise how many people are affected by the disease, it’s always so busy. But I’m lucky to have this hospital on my doorstep, and although cancer is devastating you’ve got to be quite positive. This clinical trial has helped me think it’s not yet the end of the line.”

Until she retired earlier this year, Ellen worked as a research nurse at the Northern General Hospital – so when she was offered the opportunity to take part in a clinical trial she felt it was the right thing to do. The trial has given her access to a new oral therapy, which she takes every day, and a standard injection. Both are offered on the NHS but not in combination.

“Most of the time I feel well, and it only feels real when I start to experience backache or nausea, or I see it written down when I’m going for an X-ray or CT scan,” Ellen who had to have her ovaries removed because of the disease at 42 added.

“Weston Park Hospital have been fantastic throughout my cancer journey. The staff there are my safety net and it’s really comforting knowing they are looking after you, and keeping an eye on you throughout.”

Professor Rob Coleman, Professor of Medical Oncology at the Academic Unit of Clinical Oncology, Weston Park Hospital who is leading the MANTA study in Sheffield, said:

We’re delighted that a patient at Weston Park Hospital has become the first in the world to be given access to the latest treatments for metastatic breast cancer. Although more and more people are surviving breast cancer, treatments for breast cancer that has spread are limited and, sadly in this situation, there is no cure.

The drug we are testing is given in combination with hormone therapy for women with advanced breast cancers that have oestrogen receptors making them potentially sensitive to hormone therapies with the aim of delaying resistance to treatment. By looking at how resistance to cancer-growing cells could be stopped, this trial could be key in delivering vital new and improved treatment options for patients with metastatic breast cancer.

The treatment can only be offered to patients with metastatic breast cancer, whose disease is worsening despite one or two previous drug treatments. Participants either receive hormone therapy alone, hormone therapy with an existing mTOR inhibitor or hormone therapy with a novel dual mTOR inhibitor (AZD2014). The study will compare how well the different treatments work in shrinking the tumours and preventing them from growing or spreading. As with all research studies, any side effects of treatment are carefully monitored.