Study of Gemcitabine/Carboplatin First-line Chemotherapy +/- Apatorsen in Advanced Squamous Cell Lung Cancers

This study is being carried out to see if a new drug called Apatorsen in combination with standard gemcitabine/carboplatin chemotherapy is effective in treating squamous cell lung cancer. This study is part of a research project for collecting information about the effectiveness and safety of Apatorsen when used with gemcitabine/carboplatin chemotherapy. The main purpose of this study is to see if Apatorsen, when combined with gemcitabine/carboplatin, is an effective treatment for squamous cell lung cancer. Recent research has found that a protein called Hsp27 can help cancer cells protect themselves against the effects of cancer treatments. Hsp27 is only found in some lung cancers but when it is present, cancer drugs might not work as well as they would without Hsp27 being present. Blocking the action of Hsp27 or removing Hsp27 from cancer cells with Apatorsen may slow down or stop the cancer growing. This study will therefore look at the relationship between the Hsp27 levels in tumour and blood and the effect of the treatment. The development of Apatorsen is intended to provide a new treatment option for patients with cancer. Apatorsen may also make the cancer more sensitive to gemcitabine and carboplatin and so make this chemotherapy treatment more effective.