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The purpose of the study is to evaluate the progression-free survival (PFS) of casdatifan versus placebo when each is given in combination with cabozantinib in adult patients with confirmed advanced or metastatic clear cell Renal Cell Carcinoma who have experienced progression on or after prior anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy.

Katherine Gibson-Corley, D.V.M., Ph.D.

  • Scientific Co-Director, Translational Pathology Shared Resource
  • Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
  • Professor of Surgery

Email

katherine.gibson-corley@vumc.org

Katherine Gibson-Corley, D.V.M., Ph.D.

  • Scientific Co-Director, Translational Pathology Shared Resource
  • Professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
  • Professor of Surgery

katherine.gibson-corley@vumc.org

Research Program

Research Description

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Researchers are looking for new ways to treat types of breast cancer that are both: * High-risk, which means the cancer may have a higher chance of getting worse or coming back after treatment * Early-stage, which means the cancer is in the breast or the lymph nodes around the breast The 2 types of breast cancer in this study are triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and hormone receptor (HR)-low positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) negative breast cancer. These cancers have zero or a low amount of a protein called HER2 and other proteins that attach to the hormones estrogen or progesterone. Sacituzumab tirumotecan (also known as sac-TMT or MK-2870), the study medicine, is a type of targeted therapy. A targeted therapy is a treatment that works to control how specific types of cancer cells grow and spread. The main goals of this study are to learn if people who receive sac-TMT, pembrolizumab, and chemotherapy: * Have fewer cancer cells found in the tumors and lymph nodes removed during surgery compared to those who receive only pembrolizumab and chemotherapy * Live longer without the cancer growing, spreading, or coming back compared to people who receive only pembrolizumab with chemotherapy

Lung cancer conference set for May 8

Submitted by vicc_news on

Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center will host “The Future of Lung Cancer Care,” a one-day educational event scheduled for May 8 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University.

The conference will focus on recent improvements in patient outcomes and survival resulting from early detection, advanced imaging, minimally invasive procedures, and breakthroughs in targeted and immune-based therapies. Those improvements have resulted in the five-year survival rate nearly doubling over a decade, according to the State of Lung Cancer report from the American Lung Association.

The conference will feature nationally and internationally known experts.

  • Daniel Sterman, MD, director of the Multidisciplinary Pulmonary Oncology Program at New York University Langone Health, will speak about “Interventional Pulmonology: Bronchoscopically Delivered Treatment of Early Lung Cancer.”
  • Mohamed Shanshal, MBChB, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Vanderbilt Health and clinical director of Thoracic Oncology, will address “Medical Oncology: Integrating Immunotherapy, Targeted Therapy, and Beyond.”
  • Joseph Mammarappallil, MD, PhD, associate professor of Radiology and cardiothoracic imaging specialist at Duke University School of Medicine, will discuss “Interventional Radiology: Imaging-Driven Precision and Local Control.”
  • Several Vanderbilt Health lung cancer experts will also speak.

Discussion topics include advances in early detection and diagnostic precision, breakthroughs in minimally invasive biopsy and surgical techniques, the expanding role of targeted therapy and immunotherapy, evolving approaches to survivorship, and supportive care. The conference is open to families, caregivers, clinicians, trainees and anyone interested in lung cancer care. Physicians who attend the conference may claim 7.0 AMA PRA Category 1 credits toward continuing medical education.

Reservations can be made via Eventbrite.

The post Lung cancer conference set for May 8 appeared first on Vanderbilt Health News.

Sunil Kripalani, M.D.

  • Professor of Medicine and Health Policy

Email

sunil.kripalani@vumc.org

Sunil Kripalani, M.D.

  • Professor of Medicine and Health Policy

sunil.kripalani@vumc.org

Research Program

Research Description

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Maria Mulero Morales, M.D.

  • Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology and Endocrine Surgery

Email

maria.e.mulero.morales@vumc.org

Maria Mulero Morales, M.D.

  • Assistant Professor of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology and Endocrine Surgery

maria.e.mulero.morales@vumc.org

Research Program

Research Description

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David Stevenson, Ph.D.

  • Chair of the Department of Health Policy
  • Professor of Health Policy
  • Mike Curb Chair for Health Policy

Email

david.stevenson@vumc.org

David Stevenson, Ph.D.

  • Chair of the Department of Health Policy
  • Professor of Health Policy
  • Mike Curb Chair for Health Policy

david.stevenson@vumc.org

Research Program

Research Description

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The goal of this study is to test A2B395, an allogeneic logic-gated Tmod CAR T-cell product in subjects with solid tumors including colorectal cancer (CRC), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and other solid tumors that express EGFR and have lost HLA-A\*02 expression. The main questions this study aims to answer are: * Phase 1: What is the recommended dose of A2B395 that is safe for patients * Phase 2: Does the recommended dose of A2B395 kill the solid tumor cells and protect the patient's healthy cells Participants will be required to perform study procedures and assessments, and will also receive the following study treatments: * Enrollment in BASECAMP-1 (NCT04981119) * Preconditioning lymphodepletion (PCLD) regimen * A2B395 Tmod CAR T cells at the assigned dose
The goal of this clinical trial is to determine if FOG-001 is safe and effective in participants with locally advanced or metastatic cancer.

Thyroid cancer ‘atlas’ points to cell types that contribute to disease progression

A recent multi-institutional study led by physician-scientists at Vanderbilt Health found that there are certain types of stromal cells called fibroblasts that contribute to the invasion and progression of aggressive thyroid cancer. This work, published in the journal JCI Insight, defines the types of stromal cells (which make up certain types of connective tissue) present in thyroid tumors and identifies specific fibroblasts that appear to contribute to cancer cell invasion.

Understanding the danger posed by these cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), which promote cancer growth, metastasis and treatment resistance, will allow for the development of targeted drugs to combat cancer in patients for whom surgical intervention was not effective.

Vivian Weiss, MD, PhD

The paper’s senior author, Vivian Weiss, MD, PhD, associate professor of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, credited the collaborative effort between numerous institutions for yielding results that show promise for the future of understanding thyroid cancer progression. In addition to Vanderbilt Health, researchers from Johns Hopkins Medicine, MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Washington School of Medicine contributed to the paper.

“This type of study is groundbreaking in the field and wouldn’t have been possible without the fantastic coordination of multiple centers,” said Weiss. “And within our team at Vanderbilt Health, collaboration between pathologists, endocrinologists, oncologists, surgeons and bioinformaticians was paramount to support this work.”

Matthew Loberg, PhD, a physician-scientist trainee in the Weiss Lab, was the study’s lead author, and eleven other Vanderbilt-affiliated trainees contributed to the research.

In thyroid cancer, indolent tumors, or those that usually respond well to standard treatment, can progress to become aggressive. The study created one of the first large thyroid cancer single-cell sequencing atlases made up of cells from 81 patient samples, spanning both indolent and aggressive variants. It also leveraged a unique cohort of patient samples with spatial transcriptomics, which uses spatially bar-coded genomic data, to assess stromal changes across spatial progression of tumors from indolent to aggressive. The researchers used multiplex immunofluorescence to spatially confirm protein expression of genes and location of cell subtypes.

Ryan Belcher, MD, MPH

“We can use single-cell sequencing to identify the genes being expressed on a tumor specimen and combine these data with spatial transcriptomics to see where those genes actually are,” said Ryan Belcher, MD, MPH, associate professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and one of the study’s co-authors. “You can see the leading edges of invasion and recognize whether a cancer specimen has aggressive features.”

The study analyzed 28 spatial transcriptomic samples of thyroid cancer including rare anaplastic thyroid cancer tumors from adult patients, the most lethal type of thyroid cancer, as well as samples from pediatric papillary thyroid cancer. One of the next steps in the research will be to compare the information gathered from adults and translate it to understand the treatment of children who suffer from thyroid cancer.

“We want to understand better why pediatric patients end up presenting with more aggressive features such as lymph node and lung metastasis, and this type of study will help us understand that better,” said Belcher. “This type of research has been done with other tumors, such as breast or lung cancer, but it had never really been done with a large cohort of thyroid cancer patients. … To us, it’s a stamp of how important our research in pediatric and adult thyroid cancer is at Vanderbilt Health and at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt as one of the leading institutes in thyroid cancer research in the country.”

Belcher added that while this research may not save a life tomorrow, the answers it seeks to provide in the long term can very much help families down the road.

“Thyroid cancer can recur, so there’s hope for the creation of drugs that can treat the cancers associated with CAFs,” he said. “And that may be an option for patients of any age whose thyroid cancer comes back, as well as any future family members who suffer from it.”

Weiss said that this study underscores how seriously Vanderbilt Health takes every facet of patient care, from the research that lays the foundation for future treatment to the moment it is administered to save a life.

“This paper was made possible by dozens of physician-scientists at Vanderbilt and beyond, each of whom plays an important role in working toward lifesaving care beyond just the operating room,” said Weiss. “Vanderbilt is known for its creative and collaborative culture. We make the biggest discoveries and advances when we work together as a team.”

“We’re not just here to do a patient’s surgery; we’re here to perform game-changing research because we care about this disease process and making it better,” added Belcher. “This is all we think about. It’s our passion.” This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants R35GM122516, R01CA244188, R01CA272875, K12CA090625, K08CA240901, F30CA281125, T32GM007347, U01CA294527 and R01DK103831), American Society of Cytopathology, American Thyroid Association, V Foundation for Cancer Research, Children’s Cancer Research Fund, American Cancer Society, Petrick Thyroid Cancer Research Fund, Johns Hopkins Cancer Convergence Institute, and Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins.

The post Thyroid cancer ‘atlas’ points to cell types that contribute to disease progression appeared first on Vanderbilt Health News.

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