New clinical research findings on oncology to be highlighted at ASCO 2010

February 25, 2016

Pancreatic cancer portends a poor prognosis, with long-term survival less than 5%, and better chemotherapies and/or other treatment modalities are needed to improve survival for pancreatic cancer patients. These two open-label nonrandomized phase II studies evaluated live, allogeneic, cellular immunotherapy (HyperAcute-Pancreas, HAPa) plus standard adjuvant gemcitabine-based chemotherapy/5-FU-based chemoradiotherapy for patients with resected pancreatic adenocarcinoma. The data suggest that the addition of HAPa to standard adjuvant therapy for resected pancreatic cancer may improve survival. A phase III study is under way.

Monday, June 7

General Poster Session: Developmental Therapeutics - Clinical Pharmacology and Immunotherapy

Final Results From a Phase 1 Study of Oral TRC102 (Methoxyamine HCl), an Inhibitor of Base-Excision Repair, to Potentiate the Activity of Pemetrexed in Patients with Refractory Cancer Abstract #2576: 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Presenters: Panos Savvides, MD; Lili Liu, MD, PhD; Yan Xu, PhD; Stanton Gerson, MD, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Lead Author: G. J. Weiss, MD, Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare

A new first-in-class drug discovered and tested at University Hospitals Case Medical Center has been found to be promising in the treatment of advanced cancer through increasing the efficacy of chemotherapy. The multi-center phase one study of TRC102, a novel oral anti-cancer drug intended to overcome resistance to chemotherapy by targeting a DNA repair pathway, has the potential to improve the lives of many patients.

TRC102 (introduced as Methoxyamine) is a small molecule that has been shown to reverse resistance to the chemotherapy agent Pemetrexed (Alimta), by targeting a newly identified pathway used to repair chemotherapy-induced DNA damage. TRC102 was identified and developed by researchers at UH Case Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and further developed by TRACON Pharmaceuticals, Inc. of San Diego, CA.

TRC102 is also being developed to reverse resistance to the chemotherapeutic Temodar and a second Phase 1 trial of TRC102 combined with Temodar is ongoing.

General Poster Session: Patient and Survivor Care

Polypharmacy and Functional Status in Older Patients with Breast, Colon, and Lung Cancers Abstract #9087: 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Presenters: Siran Koroukian, PhD; Nathan Berger, MD; Cynthia Owusu, MD, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Lead Author: G. K. Prithviraj, MD, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

Researchers sought to evaluate the prevalence of polypharmacy and the inappropriate prescribing of medications (IPM), and to determine the relation between polypharmacy, IPM, and functional status in older cancer patients. Polypharmacy and IPM were highly prevalent in the group of older patients with breast, colon, or lung cancer that were studied; and polypharmacy was associated with poorer functional status at diagnosis. The study's results suggest that interventions for polypharmacy may improve functional status, treatment tolerance and cancer outcomes among older patients and are therefore warranted.

Source: University Hospitals Case Medical Center