Oncology

Breast and gynecological cancers

Breast and gynecologic cancers (ovarian, uterine, and cervical cancer) have been a highly active area of clinical research at Parexel. We know the devastating effect these diseases have on women's health and are fully engaged to fight women's cancer. 

One of our focuses has been ovarian cancer, which represents an ongoing challenge in the field due to its high rate of recurrence after initial surgery and chemotherapy. Our global studies on maintenance therapy following chemotherapy have significantly increased the amount of time before progression, utilizing a class of agents called “PARP Inhibitors” that take advantage of a cancer cell’s inability to repair DNA defects, thus creating “synthetic lethality.”

Gastrointestinal cancers

We have been, and still are, at the forefront of many of the recent advances in gastrointestinal cancer. Colon cancer and pancreatic cancer remain major causes of cancer morbidity, and we are actively engaged in many trials evaluating novel and promising agents in these disease areas. 

Significant advances have been seen with earlier use of immunotherapy, both as front-line therapy for advanced gastric cancer and as postoperative therapy of resected esophageal cancer. A novel antibody-drug-conjugate targeting HER2 provides new hope for patients with this subset of gastric cancers. The same therapy is under evaluation in colon cancer, and we are very proud to be part of it.

Genitourinary cancers

Our genitourinary cancer specialists are passionate about bringing innovation to patients and supporting the range of clinical studies from Early Phase to Phase III (registry studies), as well as expanded access use clinical studies. In the past 5 years, we have worked on 330 clinical studies among prostate, renal and urothelial cancer projects, with 30 awarded over the past two years alone as studies in this area increase.

Our team has wide experience as medical leads in different indications (adjuvant, radiochemotherapy, and in metastatic settings) and with different investigational compounds (targeted agents, checkpoint inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, chemotherapy, and theragnostic). Our colleagues are based in Europe, North America and the APAC region, providing a global presence for high-quality medical oversight and monitoring experiences in awarded studies.

Lung, head, and neck cancer

These cancers are devastating for patients and families. But there’s hope, and we are committed to bringing new treatments and cutting edge scientific advancements to patients in need.

Our lung, head and neck cancer specialists support the whole range of clinical studies from early phase to Phase III (registry studies), as well as post-approval safety trials. In the past 5 years, we have worked on nearly 100 clinical lung cancer and head and neck cancer projects, including non-small cell lung cancer, small cell lung cancer, and malignant mesothelioma trials. Our team has wide experience as medical leads in different indications (adjuvant, radiochemotherapy, and in metastatic setting) and with different investigational compounds (targeted agents, checkpoint inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies, and chemotherapy). Our colleagues are based in Europe, North America, and the APAC region, providing a global presence for high-quality medical oversight and monitoring experiences.   

Phase I and rare tumors

The Phase I and rare tumors team comprises varied backgrounds, including pediatric oncologists, clinical pharmacologists, and early phase specialists, all sharing broad oncology experience and passion for scientific innovations to support patients.

In the past 5 years, Parexel has performed more than 180+ Early Phase oncology projects, including immuno-oncology projects. Most early phase studies concerned dose escalation/expansion studies with patient populations of either solid tumors or targeted populations. Many of these studies also concerned dose escalation/expansion of an investigational medicinal product combined with an immune checkpoint inhibitor.

Our team is very experienced in both the standard rule-based escalation designs as well as the different Bayesian model–based designs and rely on the support of an experienced biostatistics group. We have ample experience with complex adaptive trial designs like two- or three-stage, basket, umbrella, and platform study designs.