Active chemotherapy drugs for the treatment of advanced biliary tract cancers (ABC) include gemcitabine, fluoropyrimidines and platinum agents. The United Kingdom (UK) National Cancer Research Network (NCRN) ABC-02 study established cisplatin and gemcitabine as the standard of care for the first-line treatment of patients with ABC and this regimen has been widely adopted in the UK and internationally. However, inherent and acquired tumour resistance limits the efficacy of gemcitabine and it is necessary to explore alternative treatments.~The study will explore the combination of acelarin, a drug designed to specifically overcome the key cancer resistance mechanisms associated with gemcitabine, with cisplatin. As this is the first time the combination of acelarin and cisplatin will be given to patients the aim of the study is to investigate the safety of the combination and to establish the recommended phase II dose of acelarin.~This is a phase Ib, single-arm, multi-centre, open-label trial. The trial design is a classic 3+3 design where patients are recruited into cohorts of 3 to 6 patients at different dose levels until the dose level for phase II is determined. Patients in each cohort will be monitored closely for safety and drug toxicity.~Secondary trial objectives will involve assessing the activity of acelarin in combination with cisplatin in terms of; progression-free survival, overall survival and response rate, as well as exploring the pharmacokinetic profile of the combination.
The purpose of this study is to determine the recommended phase II dose, and to assess the safety of acelarin in combination with cisplatin in patients with locally advanced/ metastatic biliary tract cancers.