
This section of the Weisenthal Cancer Group
website pertains to a clinical study which will begin enrolling
qualified participants soon.
Participant Qualifications
-
Patients with
a diagnosis of cancer who are candidates for treatment with anti-cancer
drugs (chemotherapy).
Study
Design
-
Living cancer
cells are obtained individually from each trial participant and exposed in
the laboratory to the widest possible range of chemotherapy drugs.
-
Included are
standard treatments and new targeted drugs, including kinase inhibitors and
anti-angiogenic agents.
-
Drugs are
tested as single agents and in rational drug combinations.
-
Drug activity
is reported to treating physicians to aid in individualized treatment design
and therapy selection.
What
is new or different about this study?
-
This study
involves the use of a new laboratory test that allows for simultaneous
identification of anti-tumor activity and anti-vascular activity in
established anti-cancer drug treatments and also in novel combinations of
standard drugs, kinase-inhibiting drugs, and new anti-angiogenesis agents.
-
Progress of
patients in the study is reported online, in real-time (patient privacy is
rigorously protected), allowing current and prospective trial participants
to determine if there is benefit from study participation.
-
Also allows
patients and cancer physicians to assess the clinical activity of
individualized drug treatments without waiting months or years for
publication of study data.
What
is the aim of this study?
-
It is hoped
that patients whose treatments are tailored specifically for them with
knowledge of drug activity observed in the laboratory against their own
cancer cells will achieve clinical benefits which are as good as or superior
to those of patients who receive treatments which are not individualized for
them in this manner. However, there is
no clinical study in which treatment success can be guaranteed.
Other
Study Features
-
No patient
will be “randomized” to a secondary treatment arm as occurs in many studies.
-
No patient
will receive a placebo or other “control” therapy as occurs in many studies.
-
Each patient
will receive the individualized treatment which offers the highest
probability of benefit, in the opinion of the patient’s treating physician
and also based upon information resulting from laboratory testing as
described above.