A trial looking at chemotherapy for testicular cancer (TE3)

Who can enter

You can enter this trial if you

• Have testicular cancer that doctors expect to be cured with chemotherapy (‘good risk’ testicular cancer)
• Have not had radiotherapy or chemotherapy for your testicular cancer yet
• Are well enough to have chemotherapy
• Have satisfactory blood test results
• Are aged 16 to 50 years

You cannot enter this trial if you

• Have had radiotherapy or chemotherapy already
• Have poor lung function
• Have poor kidney function
• Have had another cancer, except for basal cell skin cancer
• Have any other serious medical condition

Trial design

This is a randomised trial. It will recruit 210 patients. The people taking part are put into treatment groups by a computer. Neither you nor your doctor will be able to decide which group you are in.

Group 1 have ‘standard’ BEP chemotherapy. Each 3 weeks of chemotherapy is one cycle of treatment. You have

• Etoposide through a drip into a vein on the first 3 days of each cycle. This takes about 2 hours each day.
• Cisplatin through a drip into a vein on the first 2 days of each cycle. This takes about 4 hours each day.
• Bleomycin through a drip into a vein on one day each week of the 3 week cycle (day 2, day 8 and day 15). This takes about half and hour each time.

Group 2 will also have BEP chemotherapy, but with continuous bleomycin. Each 3 weeks of chemotherapy is one cycle of treatment. You have

• Etoposide through a drip into a vein on the first 3 days of each cycle. This takes about 2 hours each day.
• Cisplatin through a drip into a vein on the first 2 days of each cycle. This takes about 4 hours each day.
• Bleomycin into a vein continuously (24 hours a day) for the first 3 days of each cycle.

Both groups will have the same dose of bleomycin overall. And have 3 cycles of treatment over 9 weeks.

You will fill out a questionnaire before you start treatment, after your first cycle of chemotherapy, and then a few weeks and a year after you finish treatment. It will ask you how you have been feeling and about any side effects you have had. This is called a ‘quality of life’ questionnaire.

Hospital visits

You will see the doctors and have some tests before you take part in this trial. The tests include

• Physical examination
• CT scan
• Chest X-ray
• Breathing tests (lung function tests)
• Blood tests
• Urine test

You will be in hospital for 3 days at the start of each 3 week cycle of chemotherapy. If you are in group 1, you will go to the outpatient department for bleomycin on day 8 and day 15 of each cycle. If you are in group 2, you will go to the hospital on days 8 and 15 for blood tests. But you will not have any treatment on these days.

You have blood tests and possibly a chest X-ray before each cycle of chemotherapy. You have a CT scan and lung function tests after the first cycle.

After you finish treatment you have a CT scan, blood tests, lung function tests, a physical examination and possibly a chest X-ray.

After you finish treatment you will see the doctors once a month for 3 months, then every 2 months for 6 months, and then every 3 months for another year.

Side effects

The most common side effects of BEP chemotherapy include

• Feeling or being sick
• A drop in blood cells causing an increased risk of infection, bleeding or bruising problems, tiredness or shortness of breath
• Hair loss
• Sore mouth
• Fever and chills
• Changes in hearing
• Numbness and tingling in hands and feet (peripheral neuropathy)
• Lung changes

There is more information about the side effects of bleomycin, etoposide and cisplatin on CancerHelp UK.