DrugEvidence

Drugs / Irinotecan

Irinotecan

Drug

Irinotecan is an intravenous anti-cancer medicine used mainly for colon cancer and also for small cell lung cancer in combination regimens. It belongs to the topoisomerase inhibitor family and works through topoisomerase I blockade with downstream DNA damage and tumor cell death. It was approved for medical use in the United States in 1996.

Trials
1304
Recruiting
145
Completed
654
With results
267

Last revised

Pipeline

Phase by status

PhaseRecruitingNot yetBy invitationActiveCompletedTerminatedWithdrawnSuspendedUnknownTotal
Early Phase 1 3522 12
Phase 1 2331018627410 263
Phase 1/2 267756197111 134
Phase 2 451613631590173124 647
Phase 2/3 313103 20
Phase 3 45161968131125 188
Phase 4 1613 11
Not applicable 213244 16
Unknown 1516 13

Trials started per year

2021
15
2022
47
2023
54
2024
41
2025
49
2026
51
2027
1

Conditions studied, by phase

ConditionEarly Phase 1Phase 1Phase 1/2Phase 2Phase 2/3Phase 3Phase 4Not applicableUnknownTotal
Colorectal Neoplasms 5640217676686 415
Colonic Neoplasms 1231277231122 151
Rectal Neoplasms 201184328131 151
Pancreatic Neoplasms 528164441231 113
Stomach Neoplasms 221056312314 111
Neoplasm Metastasis 25741161 90
Neoplasms 3110296 76
Esophageal Neoplasms 12437611 61
Small Cell Lung Carcinoma 99191711 47
Lung Neoplasms 133271 44

Most active sponsors

#SponsorTrialsPhase 3
1National Cancer Institute (NCI)609
2Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology349
3Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center330
4Fudan University295
5Sun Yat-sen University279
6M.D. Anderson Cancer Center200
7Children's Oncology Group196
8Pfizer187
9Eli Lilly and Company152
10Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC155

Most studied interventions

#InterventionTrials
1Irinotecan1304
2Fluorouracil484
3Leucovorin422
4Oxaliplatin384
5Bevacizumab219
6Capecitabine153
7Cetuximab153
8Gemcitabine118
9Cisplatin113
10Temozolomide100

Evidence

Results reported
40.8%267 of 654 completed
Published
23.1%151 of 654 completed
Primary endpoint met
36.8%32 of 87 analyses
Median months to report
18

Documents disclosed

Protocol available
119
Statistical analysis plan
116
PubMed citations
312

Trial profile

Median enrollment
53
Median duration
50.2months
Countries
62
Study sites
14334

Who is enrolled

Adults
1295
Children
172
Older adults
1190
Healthy volunteers
8

Median enrollment by phase

Early Phase 1
12
Phase 1
27
Phase 1/2
49
Phase 2
50
Phase 2/3
375
Phase 3
394
Phase 4
128
Not applicable
25
Unknown
140

Where trials run

United States
668
China
235
France
139
Italy
105
South Korea
99
Canada
98
Spain
96
Germany
87
United Kingdom
72
Japan
68

Busiest cities

#CityCountryTrials
1New YorkUnited States166
2Los AngelesUnited States148
3ChicagoUnited States133
4BostonUnited States131
5HoustonUnited States123
6St LouisUnited States113
7PhiladelphiaUnited States112
8SeattleUnited States112
9NashvilleUnited States101
10Ann ArborUnited States99

Terminations

Terminated
154
Withdrawn
35
Suspended
6
Stopped for recruitment
4.4%58 of 1304 trials

Stated reasons

Other / unclear
98
Recruitment
58
Business decision
12
Lack of efficacy
11
Regulatory
6
Funding
5
Safety
4
COVID-19
1

Reasons are grouped from the sponsor's own wording with a rule-based classifier; the original text is shown below.

Recently stopped

TrialStatusStated reasonStopped
NCT06620302 Suspended Suspended Unacceptable Toxicity 2031-12-30
NCT05062889 Suspended Suspended due to earlier termination of the agreement between the Sponsor and Central Laboratory for screening test. Enrollment will reopen as soon as a new laboratory is identified. 2029-12-31
NCT04543916 Withdrawn Withdrawn AbbVie decided to stop trial involving Venetoclax for safety measures needed 2028-06-30
NCT05358704 Suspended Suspended no slots available 2028-01-30
NCT02366819 Suspended Suspended Pending data analysis 2026-06-08
NCT05238831 Withdrawn Withdrawn Withdrawn due to a change in therapeutic interventions. 2026-05-31
NCT05083481 Terminated Terminated Lack of clinical benefit 2026-05-11
NCT04481204 Withdrawn Withdrawn 0 participants 2026-04-27
NCT06509906 Terminated Terminated Sponsor Decision 2025-12-02
NCT06501989 Withdrawn Withdrawn Principal Investigator has left Inova 2025-09-19

Trial records