The University Hospital Mannheim, Germany, has recruited the first patient to COLOSSUS, an EU-funded Horizon 2020 translational trial which could lead to a ground-breaking new way of treating people with advanced metastatic colorectal cancer.
In total, 163 patients will be recruited to take part in the COLOSSUS trial which will validate new and effective stratification tools that are used to divide patients into groups based on the molecular sub-type of their tumour. The trial opened in September 2018 and the estimated completion date is May 2022.
The international trial is being run at sites in Germany with Chief Investigator Prof Matthias Ebert, in the Republic of Ireland with Chief Investigator Prof Ray McDermott and in Spain with Chief Investigator Prof Josep Tabernero. In Germany, the study is open at the University Hospital Mannheim and at a private oncology practice in Speyer and will be opened at a private oncology practice in Heidelberg within the next month. In Ireland, the COLOSSUS trial is open in the Bon Secours Hospital, Cork, in Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin, in University Hospital Galway and is due to open at St Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin, shortly. In Spain, the trial will open soon at L’Hospialet de Llobregat and Paseo Vall d’Hebron University Hospital, both are located in Barcelona. The trial is sponsored and coordinated by Cancer Trials Ireland.
Chief Investigator Prof Matthias Ebert of Heidelberg University and the University Hospital Mannheim, said: “I am very excited about the potential benefits of this study for people with MSS RAS-mutant metastatic colorectal cancer. Patients with these cancers and their doctors face special challenges in treatment of the cancer, therefore, COLOSSUS is addressing a key question in colorectal cancer which may hopefully lead to new concepts for the future management of patients in Europe and beyond”.
Pictured above: The University Hospital Mannheim Study Team
Dr Verena Murphy, Translational Research Leader at Cancer Trials Ireland, commented: “ Cancer Trials Ireland is proud to sponsor and coordinate this important trial and having the opportunity to work together with these international clinical teams and academic research groups”.
Prof Annette Byrne, COLOSSUS Coordinator at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland remarks “The COLOSSUS strategy is based on our ability to integrate systems biomedicine, network analyses and computational modelling approaches to identify new actionable pathways, biomarkers and targets across RAS mutant colorectal cancer. We aim to identify new treatments and develop diagnostic assays for this intractable disease. Metastatic colorectal cancer is a highly prevalent, and complex pathology with a high economic impact both within a European and global context.”
Please visit ClinicalTrials.gov for further details about the COLOSSUS translational trial.
Media coverage of this story:
Health Europa| COLOSSUS: The first patient recruited in translational trial for metastatic colorectal cancer
European Commission Representation in Ireland’s EU News You Can Use: EU-funded colorectal cancer project to begin trials in Cork, Dublin and Galway