CCR clinical trial patients featured in AFP article
Mar 28, 2018
A clinical trial at the National Cancer Institute led by Christian Hinrichs, M.D., Investigator in the Experimental Transplantation and Immunology Branch, offered the first evidence in support of immunotherapy as an effective treatment for cervical cancer. In a recent article, Agence France Presse highlights the journeys of Sue Scott and Arrica Wallace, two women on the trial for whom the experimental cancer treatment worked. Read the full article…
Defeating a rare, aggressive form of skin cancer with avelumab
Mar 23, 2018
For the one-year anniversary of the FDA’s approval of avelumab, CCR Communications caught up with Richard Mulcahy to share his success story as a clinical trial patient. Mulcahy was diagnosed with Merkel cell carcinoma in September of 2016. It’s been over a year since he received his first treatment of avelumab as part of a clinical trial led by Isaac Brownell, M.D., Ph.D., formerly an Investigator in the Dermatology Branch, at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda. Read more...
Clinical trial uses combination therapy for certain types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Mar 22, 2018
Researchers are testing the safety of the combination of an experimental drug with rituximab, a standard treatment, for patients with indolent or diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The antibody is designed to target and block a protein that is present on cancer cells and is used by those cells to protect themselves from your body’s immune system. Blocking the protein may enable your body’s immune system to find and destroy the cancer cells. Read more…
New clinical program will study metastatic colorectal cancer in viable patient tissue samples
Mar 13, 2018
Jonathan Hernandez, M.D., Investigator in the Thoracic and Gastrointestinal Oncology Branch, has established a new clinical program to understand how metastases form, which may yield insights into how to treat or even prevent them. The program will conduct first-of-their-kind studies with tumor-containing liver that is kept alive outside of the body after it is removed from a patient. Read more…
First bone marrow transplant for rare gene mutation made possible through CCR clinical trial
Mar 12, 2018
Because of a rare mutation to the NFKB1 gene, Avery’s immune system is unable to fight off commonly occurring bacteria, and she is at risk of developing life-threatening infections. Bone marrow transplants are the only potential cure for immune deficiencies like Avery’s. As part of a clinical trial at the Center for Cancer Research with Jennifer Kanakry, M.D., Staff Clinician in the Experimental Transplantation and Immunology Branch, she received a bone marrow transplant from cells donated by her father. Read Avery’s story…
Novel technique used to treat melanoma and epithelial tumors in new clinical trial
Mar 8, 2018
Exomic sequencing allows researchers to read the “letters” in the part of your DNA that makes proteins to see where the letters are correct and where the letters are incorrect. This information allows white blood cells engineered from the patient to recognize these tumor-specific mutations and be made into vaccines, called dendritic cell (DC) vaccines, to test effects on melanoma and epithelial tumors. Read more…
Clinical trial aims to improve outcomes for children and young adults with primary brain tumors
Mar 6, 2018
Central nervous system (CNS) tumors are the most common solid tumors among children and account for up to 25 percent of all childhood cancer cases. With few treatment options available at the time of recurrence or progression, this multicenter study will test the safety and efficacy of a drug that boosts the function of the immune system to fight tumors. Read more…
Clinical trial helps pediatric patient build healthy immune system
Mar 6, 2018
When medication failed to cure Dhruv’s skin infections, doctors in India discovered he was born with a compromised immune system. Dhruv eventually traveled to the National Institutes of Health where he was diagnosed with Dock8 deficiency, a rare genetic mutation leaving him prone to serious infections and certain cancers. Through a clinical trial at the Center for Cancer Research with Nirali Shah, M.D., M.H.Sc., Associate Research Physician in the Pediatric Oncology Branch, Dhruv received a bone marrow transplant that helped him rebuild a healthy immune system. Read his story…
First-in-human clinical trial evaluates safety of combination therapy to treat B-cell lymphomas
Feb 27, 2018
A new phase I clinical trial to evaluate the safety and maximum tolerated dosage of a five-drug targeted combination therapy called ViPOR for patients with relapsed and treatment-resistant, or refractory, B-cell lymphomas is open at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Read more…
Advanced and recurring thymic carcinoma is target of new clinical trial
Feb 20, 2018
Adults diagnosed with thymic carcinoma who overexpress the protein mesothelin may be eligible to participate in a new clinical trial at the NIH Clinical Center. The study will look at the safety and effectiveness of an investigational drug, anetumab ravtansine, developed by Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals. The drug works by binding to mesothelin, therefore overexpression of the protein could be useful for targeting cancer cells. Read more...