Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Fox Chase Update
We had a successful visit with Dr von Mehren at Fox Chase Cancer Center yesterday, and have returned back to State College. Dr von Mehren sees sarcoma patients almost exclusively, and is one of the prominent researchers in soft tissue sarcoma. We discussed several options with her, but at this point it appears likely that I will participate in a clinical trial using an investigational drug called Yondelis or ET-743. This will involve chemotherapy at 3 week intervals administered at Fox Chase, along with period imaging studies and blood count monitoring etc. We have confirmed with the Sloan doctors that they now think the cancer is a Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumor (MPNST), which is traditionally less chemo-responsive than LMS, so a clinical trial with a new drug makes a lot of sense at this point.
This trial is a Phase 1 trial (Phase I trials generally examine the safety of various dosage levels of a drug, not the efficacy of the drug itself) that combines Doxorubicin with the investigational drug Yondelis. Yondelis has been studied widely in recent years as a stand alone chemotherapy agent, and shown that it can be quite effective against certain types of soft tissue sarcoma (and other types of cancer as well). In this study, they are adding in a standard chemo drug (the Doxorubicin, also called Adriomycin) to study what doses are tolerable. Results to date have shown the combination to be well-tolerated, so I don’t have any big concerns.
Yondelis (also called ET-743) is an interesting drug in that has been extracted from a marine organism called the Mangrove Sea Squirt (Ecteinascidia turbinate). It was developed by a Spanish company called PharmaMar in conjuction with Johnson & Johnson. The derived drug is a tetrahydroisoquinolone alkaloid, and works by binding to DNA and disrupting its ability to replicate and forcing the cell to die. Dr von Mehren has written a good article on the subject here. You can quickly get lost in the details, but the bottom line is that this drug attacks cancer cells in a novel way and has been shown to be effective against sarcoma and other cancers where there are not a lot of other good options. We have corresponded with quite a few folks who are taking Yondelis, and I feel very positive about this treatment option.
I will be returning to FCCC in two weeks (May 1st) for updated imaging studies of my tumor, blood tests, and to get a port installed. I should start the infusions around May 8th and get them every 3 weeks. The first cycle will require lots of visits, but after that it should only require 1 day every 3 weeks. The number of cycles will depend on my response, side effects, and the overall dose of doxorubicin, but it will probably run through most of the summer. Overall, we really liked Fox Chase and the nurses and doctors there – it was much smaller and less hectic than Sloan. Now it’s just a matter of waiting a couple of weeks to get things started. Jenny and I are hopeful that this treatment will shrink the pelvic tumor sufficiently so that it can be removed surgically, along with any other remaining disease.
Take care everyone,
Seth
This trial is a Phase 1 trial (Phase I trials generally examine the safety of various dosage levels of a drug, not the efficacy of the drug itself) that combines Doxorubicin with the investigational drug Yondelis. Yondelis has been studied widely in recent years as a stand alone chemotherapy agent, and shown that it can be quite effective against certain types of soft tissue sarcoma (and other types of cancer as well). In this study, they are adding in a standard chemo drug (the Doxorubicin, also called Adriomycin) to study what doses are tolerable. Results to date have shown the combination to be well-tolerated, so I don’t have any big concerns.
Yondelis (also called ET-743) is an interesting drug in that has been extracted from a marine organism called the Mangrove Sea Squirt (Ecteinascidia turbinate). It was developed by a Spanish company called PharmaMar in conjuction with Johnson & Johnson. The derived drug is a tetrahydroisoquinolone alkaloid, and works by binding to DNA and disrupting its ability to replicate and forcing the cell to die. Dr von Mehren has written a good article on the subject here. You can quickly get lost in the details, but the bottom line is that this drug attacks cancer cells in a novel way and has been shown to be effective against sarcoma and other cancers where there are not a lot of other good options. We have corresponded with quite a few folks who are taking Yondelis, and I feel very positive about this treatment option.
I will be returning to FCCC in two weeks (May 1st) for updated imaging studies of my tumor, blood tests, and to get a port installed. I should start the infusions around May 8th and get them every 3 weeks. The first cycle will require lots of visits, but after that it should only require 1 day every 3 weeks. The number of cycles will depend on my response, side effects, and the overall dose of doxorubicin, but it will probably run through most of the summer. Overall, we really liked Fox Chase and the nurses and doctors there – it was much smaller and less hectic than Sloan. Now it’s just a matter of waiting a couple of weeks to get things started. Jenny and I are hopeful that this treatment will shrink the pelvic tumor sufficiently so that it can be removed surgically, along with any other remaining disease.
Take care everyone,
Seth
# posted by Seth Edmondson @ 11:37 AM 
