Clinical Trials

Immunotherapy clinical trial tests therapy for metastatic solid tumors

Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are white blood cells (T cells) that have moved from the blood into a tumor. While tumor cells frequently change their molecular structure to avoid attack by the immune system’s T cells, recent studies by the Center for Cancer Research’s Surgery Branch have found that most TILs don’t recognize newly mutated tumor cells. A clinical trial led by Steve Rosenberg, M.D., Ph.D., engineers T cells to recognize newly altered cancer cells that are then given back to the patient to help the immune system kill cancer cells in solid tumors.

Two patient’s stomachs kept “alive” after removal in novel study to understand stomach cancer

Two women with genetic predisposition to stomach cancer participated in a clinical trial at the Center for Cancer Research where their stomachs were removed and kept “alive” for several days, allowing the researchers to study the development of cancer and the effects of different therapies in unprecedented detail. The goal is to better study stomach cancer under realistic conditions and find novel, effective treatments.

Joe Chinquee volunteers with Navajo Nation during COVID-19 pandemic

Joe Chinquee, D.H.Sc., M.B.A., M.T. (A.S.C.P.) D.L.M., Clinical and Scientific Manager of the Laboratory of Pathology, served on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. In an effort to give back, he was deployed on a month-long mission to assist the U.S. Public Health Service at the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. Chinquee said: “At the NIH, I’ve been given so many opportunities and rewards. I will never stop giving back, but I would not be able to volunteer for these missions without the full support of my NCI leadership.”

Lieutenant and Research Nurse Matt Lindsley shares his experiences and public service role

Matthew Lindsley, MPH, MSN, RN PHNA-BC, is a Lieutenant in the United States Public Health Service. As a Research Nurse Specialist for the NCI’s Center for Cancer Research, Neuro-Oncology Branch, Matt helps patients with brain and spine tumors who come to NIH for treatment. He was recently deployed to aid in the COVID-19 response mission in Washington state for a number of weeks.

Clinical trial tests combination therapy for glioblastoma multiforme

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a type of brain cancer where treatments include radiation therapy, chemotherapy and surgery, but survival rates are poor. Investigators are testing an anticancer drug selinexor, which may make GBM cells less resistant to radiation therapy and allow radiation therapy to kill more cancer cells.

Trial shows aggressive cancer treatment is appropriate for people with HIV-associated primary central nervous system lymphoma

New research from CCR scientists shows that chemoimmunotherapy with antiretroviral therapy can lead to long-lasting remissions of HIV-associated primary central nervous system lymphoma without compromising neurocognitive function.

Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity

Clinical trial studies combination therapy for certain mature T-cell cancers that have not responded to treatment

Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) and mycosis fungoides/Sézary syndrome (MF/SS) are fast-growing cancers that form in T cells, a type of white blood cell that is key to the body’s immune response. A clinical trial is being conducted at the NIH Clinical Center to test a combination therapy for these rare cancers.

Clinical trial tests targeted radioactive agent as therapy for metastatic prostate cancer

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is present on the surface of all prostate cancer cells but is highly expressed on cells of castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Frank Lin, M.D., Investigator in the the Molecular Imaging Program, is leading NCI’s effort to study the effect of targeted treatment with a radioactive agent to test dosing and overall effect for these patients.

A Conversation with Christina Annunziata, M.D., Ph.D.

Christina Annunziata, M.D., Ph.D., is an Investigator in the Women’s Malignancies Branch at the Center for Cancer Research. She has spent most of her career studying the molecular underpinnings of ovarian cancer with the goal of discovering novel treatments. In our Q&A, Dr. Annunziata discusses her personal and professional milestones as well as new directions for her research.

Clinical trial studies CAR T-cell therapy for relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the blood and bone marrow, the soft inner part of long bones where new blood cells are made. With AML, bone marrow cells don't grow the way they're supposed to. Instead, immature bone marrow cells grow uncontrollably and build up in the body. This study is testing the effect of chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CAR T cells) for children and young adults.

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