A promising recent targeted cancer therapy will soon be available to certain patients with advanced pancreatic cancer – from the comfort of their home. The treatment shall be available through a first-of-its-kind, entirely telehealth-based cancer clinical trial at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James).
Traveling for specialised cancer treatment is usually cost-prohibitive for patients experiencing cancer – particularly for rare but aggressive types like pancreatic cancer, where clinical trials can represent the most modern and targeted treatment for advanced disease.”
Sameek Roychowdhury, MD, PhD, a medical oncologist with the OSUCCC – James and principal investigator of the brand new study
Roychowdhury explains that so-called “smart drugs” open a recent world of treatment options for patients with cancer. These targeted therapies are “smart” because they aim only the genetic mutations contributing to cancer cell growth, delivering genomic-guided, precise treatment for all and sundry’s disease characteristics. On this case, the genetic mutation is within the fibroblast growth factor receptors, or FGFR, that are present in roughly 1% of pancreatic cancer patients.
Pancreatic cancer is a rare but often aggressive type of cancer that’s diagnosed in about 64,000 people every year. The disease is barely more common in men and infrequently diagnosed in later, less treatable stages because its symptoms often occur after it has spread to other parts of the body. While surgery could be curative within the earliest stages of the disease, it is never detected before it has spread, and approved treatment options are limited. This, said Roychowdhury, is why expanding access to targeted drug therapy clinical trials is so critical.
“There could also be a whole bunch of gene mutations in someone’s cancer. Discovering which of them are driving how the cancer behaves and treating the mutation with novel therapies is the idea of ‘smart drug’ – or precision cancer medicine – research,” said Roychowdhury, who can be a physician scientist with the OSUCCC – James Translational Therapeutics Program. “One in every of the main barriers for precision oncology clinical trials is the rarity of some gene mutations — which limits pharmaceutical company interest and feasibility.”
The rise of telemedicine represents a silver lining from the COVID19 that Roychowdhury says will help overcome barriers to access for cancer clinical trials.
This recent telehealth study will give patients from across the USA access to oral targeted drug therapies without having to travel to a special city. Study participants will get follow-up care with Roychowdhury via telehealth, delivered in partnership with the patient’s local oncologist.
“This can be a game changer for cancer clinical trials, and more importantly, patients,” said Roychowdhury, who has 10 years of experience with FGFR smart drugs.
The preliminary research on FGFR that helped launch this treatment concept was supported by Gateway for Cancer Research, a nonprofit organization dedicated to exclusively funding early phase clinical trials for every type of cancer. An early adopter and innovator in decentralized oncology research, Gateway hopes to extend awareness of telemedicine-based clinical trials so patients know they could have options despite proximity to research sites.
“An informed patient is cancer’s best enemy,” said Richard J Stephenson, founder and chairman of Gateway. “It was an informed patient who was desperately looking for treatment that put the wheels in motion and paved the best way for this recent trial.”
The brand new clinical trial will include partnerships with Incyte Pharmaceuticals, the Pancreatic Cancer Motion Network, Foundation Medicine Inc., and Caris Life Sciences.
“By taking clinical trial treatment options on to the patient and partnering with community oncologists across the USA, we greatly expand access to patients who need these therapies – and we’re more capable of constructing meaningful discoveries by recruiting larger groups of patients,” Roychowdhury said.
Along with the clinical trial, Dr. Roychowdhury’s team has created a registry for patients to hitch and support research on rare forms of pancreas cancer.
This trial is predicted to start accruing patients in late 2023. To learn more about participating within the study or the registry, email [email protected] To learn more about gastrointestinal treatment and research on the OSUCCC – James, visit cancer.osu.edu.
Source:
Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center