Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) at Western Regional Medical
Center (Western) in Goodyear, Arizona, has begun a new Phase Ib/II
clinical trial using a new immunotherapy treatment for patients with
advanced kidney, non-small cell lung cancer, pancreatic cancer and
colorectal carcinoma. This "NivoPlus" clinical trial combines an immunotherapy drug
(nivolumab) with already FDA-approved chemotherapy drugs (temsirolimus,
irinotecan, and a combination of irinotecan and capecitabine). The addition of nivolumab is intended to activate the body's own
immune system to improve on the results that otherwise might not be
achieved from chemotherapy alone. This combination of chemotherapy and
immunotherapy drugs is investigational in this study and is the third
such combination clinical trial launched in the past year by CTCA at
Western.
There are anticipated to be up to 49 patients enrolled on the
multi-arm NivoPlus study. The first patient received treatment on this
study earlier this month.
"Some of these drug combinations are not available elsewhere, giving
CTCA patients additional treatment options," said Dr. Glen Weiss,
Director of Clinical Research and Medical Oncologist, CTCA at Western.
"Our ultimate goal is to evaluate if these combinations yield improved
results for our patients."
Nivolumab works by inhibiting a protein called PD-1, which otherwise
blocks the body's immune system from attacking cancerous cells.
No comments:
Post a Comment