CALiBRe Trial
There are a number of different treatments doctors use to treat people with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL). These methods are effective but can have serious side effects and may not be suitable for some people. Researchers hope that a new drug can be used to treat these people.
The context
CLL can be treated with chemotherapy, radiotherapy sometimes a bone marrow transplant, but these treatments are harsh and unsuitable for some people, such as people with other health conditions. For this reason, doctors are working to develop better and more effective drugs. Early studies have shown that a drug called idelalisib can be used to treat people with CLL. Researchers want to understand how this drug works in the body. Researchers have found that CLL cells have increased levels of a protein called PI3K compared to healthy cells. This protein allows cancerous cells to grow and multiply, and doctors think that idelalisib can reverse this by blocking PI3K and destroying CLL cells.
The project
Researchers now want to understand how idelalisib works to see how effective it is at treating CLL. They will trial the drug in around 40 people who have CLL who have stopped responding to a drug called ibrutinib. They also want to find out which people respond best to idelalisib as well as develop effective treatment combinations for people with CLL.
The aims
- Researchers want to find out how idelalisib works to destroy CLL cells
- Understand how idelalisib affects the growth of cancer cells
- Find out how people with CLL respond to idelalisib
- Understand if combining idelalisib with other treatments can effectively treat CLL