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.
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
Human research will be more equitable, inclusive and stronger if the people who are participants in studies also help plan and guide the direction of those studies.
Karen Winkfield, MD, PhD, executive director of the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance, has been named a fellow of the American Society for Radiation Oncology.
This phase II trial studies the effect of lutetium Lu 177 dotatate compared to the usual treatment (everolimus) in treating patients with somatostatin receptor positive bronchial neuroendocrine tumors that have spread to other places in the body (advanced). Lutetium Lu 177-dotate is a radioactive drug. It binds to a protein called somatostatin receptor, which is found on some neuroendocrine tumor cells. Lutetium Lu 177-dotatate builds up in these cells and gives off radiation that may kill them. It is a type of radioconjugate and a type of somatostatin analog. Lutetium Lu 177 dotatate may be more effective than everolimus in shrinking or stabilizing advanced bronchial neuroendocrine tumors.
This is a randomized, open-label, phase 3 clinical trial to compare the efficacy and safety of N-803 plus tislelizumab and docetaxel (experimental arm) versus docetaxel monotherapy (control arm). Enrolled participants will be randomized 2:1 to treatment in the experimental arm or the control arm. Participant randomization will be stratified by geographical region (North America vs Europe vs ASIA vs Other), NSCLC histology (squamous vs nonsquamous), and actionable genomic alteration (AGA); (epidermal growth factor receptor \[EGFR\]/anaplastic lymphoma kinase \[ALK\] vs OTHER AGA vs No AGA).
This ComboMATCH patient screening trial is the gateway to a coordinated set of clinical trials to study cancer treatment directed by genetic testing. Patients with solid tumors that have spread to nearby tissue or lymph nodes (locally advanced) or have spread to other places in the body (advanced) and have progressed on at least one line of standard systemic therapy or have no standard treatment that has been shown to prolong overall survival may be candidates for these trials. Genetic tests look at the unique genetic material (genes) of patients' tumor cells. Patients with some genetic changes or abnormalities (mutations) may benefit from treatment that targets that particular genetic mutation. ComboMATCH is designed to match patients to a treatment that may work to control their tumor and may help doctors plan better treatment for patients with locally advanced or advanced solid tumors.
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.
This clinical trial studies whether a biomarker platform, the Virtual Nodule Clinic, can be used for the management of lung (pulmonary) nodules that are not clearly non-cancerous (benign) or clearly cancerous (malignant) (indeterminate pulmonary nodules \[IPNs\]). The management of IPNs is based on estimating the likelihood that the observed nodule is malignant. Many things, such as age, smoking history, and current symptoms, are considered when making a prediction of the likelihood of malignancy. Radiographic imaging characteristics are also considered. Lung nodule management for IPNs can result in unnecessary invasive procedures for nodules that are ultimately determined to be benign, or potential delays in treatment when results of tests cannot be determined or are falsely negative. The Virtual Nodule Clinic is an artificial intelligence (AI) based imaging software within the electronic health record which makes certain that identified pulmonary nodules are screened by clinicians with expertise in nodule management. The Virtual Nodule Clinic also features an AI based radiomic prediction score which designates the likelihood that a pulmonary nodule is malignant. This may improve the ability to manage IPNs and lower unnecessary invasive procedures or treatment delays. Using the Virtual Nodule Clinic may work better for the management of IPNs.
This phase I/II trial tests the safety and efficacy of split-course adaptive radiation therapy in combination with immunotherapy with or without chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with stage IV lung cancer or lung cancer that that has spread to nearby tissue or lymph nodes (locally advanced). Radiation therapy is a standard cancer treatment that uses high energy rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Split-course adaptive radiation therapy uses patient disease response to alter the intensity of the radiation therapy. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies such as pembrolizumab, ipilimumab, cemiplimab, atezolizumab or nivolumab may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Chemotherapy drugs like carboplatin, pemetrexed, and paclitaxel work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Giving split-course adaptive radiation therapy with standard treatments like immunotherapy and chemotherapy may be more effective at treating stage IV or locally advanced lung cancer than giving them alone.
An Open-label, Phase I Dose Escalation and Phase 2 Dose Expansion Study to Assess Safety, Tolerability, Preliminary Antitumor Activity of SMP 3124LP in Adults with Advanced Solid Tumors
Breast,
Head/Neck,
Lung,
Non Small Cell,
Ovarian,
Phase I,
Uterine
