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...
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...
Clinical trial tests new schedule of radiation therapy for recurring prostate cancer
Feb 6, 2018
In order to find the most compressed schedule of radiation that prostate cancer patients can tolerate without strong side effects, Deborah Citrin, M.D., of the Radiation Oncology Branch wants to see if giving higher doses of radiation over 2–4 weeks can be as effective at killing cancer cells. Read more…
Clinical trial studies drug for pediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) treatment
Jan 31, 2018
Diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPGs) are difficult to treat and are the leading cause of brain tumor deaths in children. Katherine Warren, M.D., of the Pediatric Oncology Branch is leading a pediatric clinical trial to determine the safety and best dose of panobinostat, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, for slowing or stopping the growth of DIPGs. Read more…
Phase II trial suggests new drug can shrink tumors in advanced ovarian cancer
Jan 25, 2018
In an ongoing phase II trial led by Jung-Min Lee, M.D., an Investigator in CCR’s Women’s Malignancies Branch, using the drug prexasertib led to decreases in tumor size in patients with advanced ovarian cancer, known as high-grade serious ovarian carcinoma, who currently have limited treatment options. Read more…