For some people with cancer, is 6 months of immunotherapy the only treatment they might ever need? Or 4 weeks of immunotherapy followed by minor surgery? Results from several small clinical trials suggest these scenarios may be bona fide possibilities.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved tucatinib (Tukysa) with trastuzumab (Herceptin) to treat HER2-positive advanced colorectal cancer. The approval was based on the MOUNTAINEER trial, in which nearly 40% of participants’ tumors shrank after receiving the drug combination.
The FDA has approved zanubrutinib (Brukinsa) for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL) based on results from two clinical trials. In both trials, the drug, which blocks a protein called BTK, was more effective and caused fewer side effects than other treatments.
An NCI-funded clinical trial has shown that treatment-related early deaths in people with a rare leukemia can be dramatically reduced. How did they do it? In part, by establishing a help desk staffed by experts in treating acute promyelocytic leukemia.
In a phase 1 clinical trial of a drug combination that aims to prevent metastatic tumors from coming back in the brain, 83% of participants with advanced breast cancer developed no new brain metastases. People in the trial, who had HER2-positive breast cancer and had previously been treated with radiation or surgery to the brain, received a combination of low-dose temozolomide and T-DM1.
Clinical Trials Information for Patients and Caregivers
Taking part in a cancer treatment clinical trial is a big decision. This page discusses things to consider when you are deciding whether to take part in a clinical trial.
This phase 1 trial will test the safety and tolerability of injecting LMB-100, an immunotoxin, directly into the tumor with the immunotherapy ipilimumab (Yervoy) for certain people with malignant mesothelioma. Researchers will also determine the best dose for a phase 2 clinical trial.
This phase 2 trial will test the combined use of paclitaxel with nilotinib for people with tumors in the lining of their abdomen that have spread from ovarian, colorectal, or appendix cancer (called peritoneal carcinomatosis). Doctors want to see if giving the drugs together shrinks tumors enough for patients to have surgery.
This phase 1 trial will test the safety and tolerability of nivolumab (Opdivo) to treat people with cancer who also have autoimmune disorders. Doctors will monitor the side effects and toxicity of nivolumab in people with metastatic cancer or cancers that can’t be removed with surgery and various types of autoimmune diseases.
