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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

https://momentum.vicc.org/2022/04/cancer-gave-me-clarity/

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.

https://momentum.vicc.org/2022/04/brighter-outlook/
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Research Snapshot: DNA replication discovery opens pathways to understanding and treating cancer, aging and degenerative disease

Submitted by sobecksm on

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.

https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2023/05/02/research-snapshot-dna-replication-discovery-opens-pathways-to-understanding-and-treating-cancer-aging-and-degenerative-disease/
Marissa Shapiro
Locked

Avelumab or Hydroxychloroquine with or without Palbociclib for the Treatment of Stage II-III Breast Cancer, PALAVY Study

Breast

This phase II trial investigates the effect of avelumab or hydroxychloroquine sulfate with or without palbociclib in treating patients with stage II-III breast cancer that is positive for disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) after curative therapy. DTCs are breast cancer cells that are asleep (dormant) in the bone marrow. There are multiple ways in which these cells stay alive, and three of these mechanisms are inhibited by the drugs in this trial. First, dormant cancer cells need a protein signal pathway involving CDK 4/6 to start dividing once they wake up in order to survive as an active cancer cell. Palbociclib works by blocking the CDK 4/6 protein and by doing so may limit the dormant cancer cell from being able to survive. In addition, palbociclib may also help both of the other drugs in the trial to work better. Second, dormant cancer cells also use a process called autophagy to generate their own nutrition, which can allow them to stay asleep. Hydroxychloroquine has been shown to block autophagy, which leads to starvation of the cells. Third, dormant cancer cells are able to hide from the bodys immune system. The immune system sends a type of cell called T cells throughout the body to detect and fight infections and diseasesincluding cancers. One way the immune system controls the activity of T cells is through the PD-1/PD-L1 (programmed cell death protein-1) pathway. However, some cancer cells hide from T-cell attack by taking control of the PD-1/PD-L1 interaction and this stops T cells from attacking cancer cells. Avelumab is an antibody designed to block the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway and helps the immune system in detecting and fighting dormant cancer cells. Because palbociclib, hydroxychloroquine, and avelumab work on the mechanisms that keep the dormant cells alive, taking one or a combination of these drugs may be able to eliminate DTCs.
Breast
II
Reid, Sonya
NCT04841148
VICCBRE2161

Evaluation of Co-formulated Pembrolizumab/Quavonlimab (MK-1308A) Versus Other Treatments in Participants With Microsatellite Instability-High (MSI-H) or Mismatch Repair Deficient (dMMR) Stage IV Colorectal Cancer (CRC) (MK-1308A-008/KEYSTEP-008)

The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy and safety of co-formulated
pembrolizumab/quavonlimab versus other treatments in participants with MSI-H or dMMR
Metastatic Stage IV Colorectal Cancer.
Not Available
II
Not Available
NCT04895722
VICCGI2145

Genetic Testing to Select Therapy for the Treatment of Advanced or Metastatic Kidney Cancer, OPTIC RCC Study

Kidney (Renal Cell)

This phase II trial tests whether using genetic testing of tumor tissue to select the optimal treatment regimen works in treating patients with clear cell renal cell (kidney) cancer that has spread to other places in the body (advanced or metastatic). The current Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved regimens for advanced kidney cancer fall into two categories. One treatment combination includes two immunotherapy drugs (nivolumab plus ipilimumab), which are delivered by separate intravenous infusions into a vein. The other combination is one immunotherapy drug (nivolumab infusion) plus an oral pill taken by mouth (cabozantinib). Nivolumab and ipilimumab are immunotherapies which release the brakes of the immune system, thus allowing the patient's own immune system to better kill cancer cells. Cabozantinib is a targeted therapy specifically designed to block certain biological mechanisms needed for growth of cancer cells. In kidney cancer, cabozantinib blocks a tumors blood supply. The genetic (DNA) makeup of the tumor may affect how well it responds to therapy. Testing the makeup (genes) of the tumor, may help match a treatment (from one of the above two treatment options) to the specific cancer and increase the chance that the disease will respond to treatment. The purpose of this study is to learn if genetic testing of tumor tissue may help doctors select the optimal treatment regimen to which advanced kidney cancer is more likely to respond.
Kidney (Renal Cell)
II
Rini, Brian
NCT05361720
VICCURO21103

DCIS: RECAST Trial Ductal Carcinoma In Situ: Re-Evaluating Conditions for Active Surveillance Suitability as Treatment

The goal of this trial is to see if active surveillance monitoring and hormonal therapy in
patients diagnosed with ductal cell carcinoma in situ (DCIS), an early stage of breast
cancer, can be an effective management of the disease.

Participants will be asked to receive control hormonal therapy or an investigational hormonal
therapy treatment. Participants will be asked to return for evaluation with MRI at three
months and six months. Depending on the evaluation participants will have the option to
continue on the treatment. If the evaluation suggests surgery is recommended, the participant
will discontinue the study treatment and will undergo surgery. In addition to the treatment
and MRI evaluation, participants will be asked to provide blood sample to understand their
immune status, provide saliva sample for genetic testing, provide the study with a portion of
the tissue or slides generated from tissue removed during surgery performed as part of their
standard of care.
Not Available
II
Mccaffrey, Rachel
NCT06075953
VICC-DTBRE23082

Circulating Tumor DNA to Guide Changes in Standard of Care Chemotherapy in Patients with Metastatic Triple Negative Breast Cancer

This phase II trial tests how well evaluating circulating tumor deoxyribonucleic acid (ctDNA) works to guide therapy-change decisions in treating patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (metastatic). This study wants to learn if small pieces of DNA associated with a tumor (called circulating tumor DNA, or ctDNA) can be detected in investigational blood tests during the course of standard chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer, and whether information from such investigational ctDNA blood testing could possibly be used as an early indication of chemotherapy treatment failure. It is hoped that additional information from investigational blood testing for ctDNA could help doctors to switch more quickly from a standard chemotherapy treatment that typically has significant side effects and which may not be working, to a different standard treatment regimen against TNBC, called sacituzumab govitecan. Sacituzumab govitecan is a monoclonal antibody, called hRS7, linked to a chemotherapy drug, called irinotecan. hRS7 is a form of targeted therapy because it attaches to specific molecules (receptors) on the surface of cancer cells, known as TROP2 receptors, and delivers irinotecan to kill them. Studying ctDNA may assist doctors to change therapy earlier if needed, and may improve health outcomes in patients with metastatic TNBC.
Not Available
II
Not Available
NCT05770531
VICCBRE2257

Canakinumab for the Prevention of Progression to Cancer in Patients with Clonal Cytopenias of Unknown Significance, IMPACT Study

This phase II trial tests how well canakinumab works to prevent progression to cancer in patients with clonal cytopenias of unknown significance (CCUS). CCUS is a blood condition defined by a decrease in blood cells. Blood cells are composed of either red blood cells, white blood cells, or platelets. In patients with CCUS, blood counts have been low for a long period of time. Patients with CCUS also have a mutation in one of the genes that are responsible for helping blood cells develop. The combination of genetic mutations and low blood cell counts puts patients with CCUS at a higher risk to develop blood cancers in the future. This transformation from low blood cell counts to cancer may be caused by inflammation in the body. Canakinumab is a monoclonal antibody that may block inflammation in the body by targeting a specific antibody called the anti-human interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta).
Not Available
II
Kishtagari, Ashwin
NCT05641831
VICC-ITHEM23019