Clinical Trials

Find out about current Clinical Trials and how to get involved...

About clinical trials

If the standard drug treatment is not appropriate for you or doesn't work effectively, then you may want to consider being part of a drug trial. The nature of these vary from time to time and all have particular requirements for the participants they are looking for.  You can find details of some of the current trials that we are aware of below.

If you want to consider being part of a drug trial then we would recommend registration with RareCan (see below) because of the specialist support they can provide.  RareCan was founded in 2021 by our good friend Professor Andy Hall who was instrumental in helping us to establish the National GIST Biobank.

For more information on being a participant in a clinical trial there are good resources including one called Understanding Clinical Trials produced by UK Cancer Research Collaboration (UKCRC). This explains the terms commonly used such as placebo, control arm etc.

RareCan

Investigating clinical trial opportunities and finding a clinical trial that you may be suitable for can be a daunting and time consuming task. The process often involves navigating complex medical jargon and having to understand numerous inclusion and exclusion criteria, which can be overwhelming for patients and their families.
RareCan exists to simplify this process for you. By providing detailed screening and personalised guidance, RareCan helps patients understand their eligibility for various clinical trial opportunities and connects them to researchers. This ensures that patients can more easily find trials that are appropriate for their specific conditions, saving time and reducing confusion in their search for new treatments. The RareCan service is free to its members.
How does it work?

  1. Join RareCan – and share as much information as you can about your cancer.
  2. Get expert support – Once you have submitted your registration form, you will receive an email from the RareCan team asking you to set up a call with them at a time that is convenient to you. Initial calls usually last 20 – 30 minutes to better understand your situation, diagnosis and treatment. The team will then work to assess your eligibility for any treatment trial running in the UK. This may be an iterative process taking 2-3 weeks.
  3. Receive bespoke report – RareCan will provide you with a comprehensive report detailing the trials RareCan believes you are suitable for and why. You can share this with your medical team when you are discussing your treatment options.
  4. Keep in touch – Stay in touch with RareCan in case things change. RareCan will get in touch if new trials open that might be suitable for you.
  5. You can find out more information by visiting the RareCan website

RareCan has over 140 people with GIST registered as members and is promoting GIST as an important area for investment by drug companies with new ideas about how current treatments can be improved, including those PAWS-GIST cases without the gene mutations in either the KIT or PDGFR genes which make the tumour sensitive to imatinib. They have developed links with a wide range of small biotech and large pharmaceutical companies who are developing new medicines and are working with GCUK to help ensure that clinical trials include UK GIST patients wherever possible.

Having a large number of GIST Cancer patients in one place, who wish to be made aware of research that could help them, puts patients in a stronger position to find treatments. Saying:  “I am here and ready to participate” will speed up the time it takes for researchers and drug companies to get enough patients recruited for their trials. If you would like to find out how to become a member of the RareCan community, please visit the RareCan website.

Trials Relevant to GIST - (Last updated August 2024)

Cogent - PEAK study

A Phase 3 Randomized, Open-Label, Multicenter clinical Study of CGT9486+Sunitinib Vs Sunitinib in Subjects with Locally Advanced, Unresectable, or Metastatic Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors.

For further information including the latest locations worldwide and the inclusion and exclusion criteria to be involved see Clinicaltrials.gov

Please contact any of the following to register for this trial:

  • Professor Robin Jones at the Royal Marsden in London
  • Dr Palma Dileo at University College London Hospital
  • Dr Sarah Ngan at Guy's Hospital
  • Dr Ionna Nixon at Beatson: West of Scotland Cancer Centre
  • Dr Hassan Hameed at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
  • Dr Robin Young at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Dr Ramesh Bulusu at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge

The INSIGHT trial

An International, Phase 3, Randomized, Multicenter, Open-label Study of Ripretinib vs Sunitinib in Patients With Advanced GIST With KIT Exon 11 and Co-occurring KIT Exons 17 and/or 18 Mutations Who Were Previously Treated With Imatinib

For further details see the Clinical Trials website.

Locations:

  • Royal Marsden, London
  • St James, Leeds

StrateGIST 1 (IDRX-42 Phase 1b)

This is the first clinical trial of IDRX-42. The study is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, PK, and preliminary antitumor activity of IDRX-42 in adult participants with advanced (metastatic and/or surgically unresectable) GIST.

See the Good Clinical Practice website for further details.

Location:

  • The Royal Marsden Hospital in London (Professor Robin Jones).