A targeted treatment for advanced bowel cancer has shown promising results in an early trial, with tumours shrinking or stabilising in the majority of patients when combined with chemotherapy.
The drug, ozekibart, works by mimicking a natural protein that binds to receptors on cancer cells, triggering their death while largely sparing healthy tissue. The Phase I trial, led by the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, involved 45 patients with advanced bowel cancer who had already undergone two or three prior treatments and were not eligible for surgery.
Participants received ozekibart alongside Folfiri chemotherapy. Results showed that tumours shrank in 20 per cent of patients, and crucially, cancer progression was halted in 87 per cent of participants. In one case, a follow-up scan revealed no visible tumour.
Dr Hazel Lote, consultant medical oncologist at the Royal Marsden and honorary appointee at the Institute of Cancer Research, London, said: “These early results are promising for patients with advanced colorectal cancer who have very few treatment options left.” She added that the combination “not only shrank tumours in some patients, but stopped the cancer from worsening in many others”.
One patient, Amanda Burgess, 59, from East Sussex, joined the trial in July 2025 after her bowel cancer spread despite surgery, chemotherapy and immunotherapy. She reported two significant reductions in tumour size and said: “My energy has returned, and I’m back to doing the things I love.”
The findings are being presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago. Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, with over 48,000 new cases each year, and the second biggest cause of cancer deaths, claiming around 17,700 lives annually. The trial is supported by the Bowelbabe Fund for Cancer Research UK, set up by the late Dame Deborah James.
