The community-funded clinical trial OXTOX, a colorectal cancer study, has completed patient enrolment. Excitingly, this trial reached their goal of enrolling 100 participants – that makes 100 individuals who could directly benefit from this study, including people who live in regional areas, where cancer care is often less equipped or available.
The OXTOX trial is investigating whether an existing anti-inflammatory drug, currently in use for other health conditions like asthma, could help patients experiencing a treatment side effect called chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, or CIPN for short.
CIPN causes people to feel pain, numbness or pins and needles at a single touch. The feeling can be so debilitating, that people can be forced to reduce their dose of chemotherapy, potentially making their treatment less effective, or even stopping their treatment entirely.
Realising the full potential of treatment
At its heart, OXTOX is not only about aiming to improve quality of life for people undergoing chemotherapy for colorectal cancer – it’s also aiming to realise the full potential of their treatment.
Professors Haryana Dhillon and Janette Vardy, Study Chairs of OXTOX, write about the study:
“We hope the anti-inflammatory drug will reduce the burden of side effects that people experience from their chemotherapy, along with the impacts this has on their ability to function as they did previously.
“We also hope this trial will help to improve disease outcomes by ensuring people can complete the planned dose of chemotherapy, rather than having to stop due to CIPN symptoms.”
A pivotal approach of supportive care
OXTOX began as a small Phase I trial, through Dr Christina Teng’s research on how to reduce CIPN symptoms for people treated with this type of chemotherapy. Importantly, the findings concluded that this existing drug was not only safe, it also did not interfere with how the chemotherapy treatment was absorbed and metabolised, leading to the current larger Phase II trial. Dr Christina Teng was later awarded the first ever AGITG Early Career Researcher Award in 2022 for her work.
Supportive care, or care focused on how to best support a patient and improve quality of life, can be just as vital as treatment in cancer care. OXTOX hopes to demonstrate this. “Supportive care trials are incredibly important in helping us improve the care for people with colorectal cancer and possibly improving disease outcomes by enabling full doses of chemotherapy to be delivered,” say Professors Dhillon and Vardy.
“Without the support of generous participants, we could not do these trials. We are so grateful to the people who have volunteered to take part in this study. Their commitment to help us to help others is inspiring.”
In 2018, OXTOX was awarded our prestigious Innovation Grant. The grant was funded by the GI cancer community, demonstrating the community’s hope for, and belief in, this study.
“The OXTOX study would not have happened without the donations from so many people who believe in the mission of the AGITG. We say a heartfelt thank you to all of the donors. Thank you for making this possible, and we look forward to sharing the results with you all in about 6–9 months’ time!”
The OXTOX trial was available at 11 sites across New South Wales and Victoria, and was coordinated by the University of Sydney.