KaCrole Higgins was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020. “In May 2020, I found a lump in my breast. I cried. By June, it was diagnosed as breast cancer, triple positive, stage 1A. While getting this cancer diagnosis was devastating, it also became an opportunity. Suddenly, the cancer gave me clarity. It gave me clarity about what was important, what was good in my life, what was toxic in my life, and what I needed to do.” Click below to read more of KaCrole’s story
If Landon Ryan had been diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma 10, 20 or 30 years ago, she might not be here today with nearly perfect vision.Thanks to recent improvements in the treatment for this rare form of cancer that almost exclusively affects children under the age of 5, the diagnosis had the power to change Landon’s life when she was 11 months old, but not to take it — or her eyesight. Click below to learn more about Landon and her story.
Vanderbilt's Neil Osheroff, PhD, is part of an international research collaboration resulting in what is on track to be the first new antibiotic treatment for uncomplicated urinary tract infections in more than 20 years.
New research shows the nutritive needs of B cells are more flexible than previously thought, which could enable researchers to steer antibody production in the lymph nodes and spleen to better combat autoimmunity. Patients with high-risk diseases of the immune system, particularly systemic lupus erythematosus, could stand to benefit from the research findings. The study led by Mark Boothby, MD, and published in the Journal of Immunology, provides details regarding how murine B cells use different sugars as they mature into antibody-producing cells
An international collaboration led by biochemist David Cortez reached revelatory conclusions in exploration of how cells tolerate DNA damage and genome instability. Est. reading time: 2 mins.
This phase II ADC MATCH screening and multi-sub-study treatment trial is evaluating whether biomarker-directed treatment with one of three antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) (sacituzumab govitecan, enfortumab vedotin, and trastuzumab deruxtecan) works in treating patients with solid tumor cancers that have high expression of the Trop-2, nectin-4, or HER2 proteins and that may have spread from where they first started (primary site) to nearby tissue, lymph nodes, or distant parts of the body (advanced) or to other places in the body (metastatic). Precision medicine is a form of medicine that uses information about a person's genes, proteins, and environment to prevent, diagnose, or treat disease in a way that is tailored to the patient. ADCs such as sacituzumab govitecan, enfortumab vedotin, and trastuzumab deruxtecan are monoclonal antibodies attached to biologically active drugs and are a form of targeted therapy. Sacituzumab govitecan is a monoclonal antibody, called sacituzumab, linked to a drug called govitecan. Sacituzumab attaches to a protein called Trop-2 on the surface of tumor cells and delivers govitecan to kill them. Enfortumab vedotin is a monoclonal antibody, enfortumab, linked to an anticancer drug called vedotin. It works by helping the immune system to slow or stop the growth of tumor cells. Enfortumab attaches to a protein called nectin-4 on tumor cells in a targeted way and delivers vedotin to kill them. Trastuzumab deruxtecan is composed of a monoclonal antibody, called trastuzumab, linked to a chemotherapy drug, called deruxtecan. Trastuzumab attaches to HER2 positive tumor cells in a targeted way and delivers deruxtecan to kill them. Personalized treatment with sacituzumab govitecan, enfortumab vedotin, or trastuzumab deruxtecan may be an effective treatment option for patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors that screen positive for high expression of Trop-2, nectin-4, or HER2, respectively.
The goal of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a standardized lymphedema and fibrosis self-management program (LEF-SMP) to improve LEF self-management and reduce LEF-associated symptom burden, functional deficits, and improve quality of life in head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors.
The goal of this phase I clinical trial is to evaluate the usefulness of an imaging test (zirconium Zr89 panitumumab \[89Zr panitumumab\]) with positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) for diagnosing the spread of disease from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (metastasis) in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Traditional PET/CT has a low positive predictive value for diagnosing metastatic disease in head and neck cancer. 89Zr panitumumab is an investigational imaging agent that contains radiolabeled anti-EGFR antibody which is overexpressed in head and neck cancer. The main question this study aims to answer is the sensitivity and specificity of 89Zr panitumumab for the detection of indeterminate metastatic lesions in head and neck cancer.
Participants will receive 89Zr panitumumab infusion and undergo 89Zr panitumumab PET/CT 1 to 5 days after infusion. Participants will otherwise receive standard of care evaluation and treatment for their indeterminate lesions.
Researchers will compare the 89Zr panitumumab to standard of care imaging modalities (magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), CT, and/or PET/CT).
This phase II trial tests how well nivolumab and ipilimumab immunotherapy with or without cabozantinib works in treating patients with nasopharyngeal cancer that has come back (after a period of improvement) (recurrent), has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (metastatic), or for which no treatment is currently available (incurable). Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as nivolumab and ipilimumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Cabozantinib is in a class of medications called kinase inhibitors. It works by blocking the action of an abnormal protein that signals cancer cells to multiply. This helps slow or stop the spread of cancer cells. Giving immunotherapy with nivolumab and ipilimumab and targeted therapy with cabozantinib may help shrink and stabilize nasopharyngeal cancer.
This phase II trial studies the effect of pembrolizumab alone compared to the usual approach (chemotherapy \[cisplatin and carboplatin\] plus radiation therapy) after surgery in treating patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma that has come back (recurrent) or patients with a second head and neck cancer that is not from metastasis (primary). Radiation therapy uses high energy radiation or protons to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors. Cisplatin is in a class of medications known as platinum-containing compounds. It works by killing, stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells. Carboplatin is also in a class of medications known as platinum-containing compounds. It works in a way similar to the anticancer drug cisplatin, but may be better tolerated than cisplatin. Carboplatin works by killing, stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as pembrolizumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Giving pembrolizumab alone after surgery may work better than the usual approach in shrinking recurrent or primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
The purpose of the study is to assess the safety and efficacy of inavolisib as a single-agent and in combination with atezolizumab in participants with phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase catalytic subunit alpha isoform (PIK3CA)-mutated cancers, including previously treated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).
This phase II/III trial studies how well sentinel lymph node biopsy works and compares sentinel lymph node biopsy surgery to standard neck dissection as part of the treatment for early-stage oral cavity cancer. Sentinel lymph node biopsy surgery is a procedure that removes a smaller number of lymph nodes from your neck because it uses an imaging agent to see which lymph nodes are most likely to have cancer. Standard neck dissection, such as elective neck dissection, removes many of the lymph nodes in your neck. Using sentinel lymph node biopsy surgery may work better in treating patients with early-stage oral cavity cancer compared to standard elective neck dissection.