Clinical trial update

peterhw
peterhw Member Posts: 69
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi All,

A few months ago I participated in a clinical trial of Amgen 655 and Amgen 479 for treatment of advanced solid tumor. The CT scan before Thanksgiving indicated tumor progression. So the trial was not working for me. My onc gave me two options. One is to go back to traditional chemo, which she thinks will eventually fail. Or I can go to the next clinical trial of Erbitux, Irinotecan and Sorafenib. I do have to wait for 1.5 months to have opening available. Being an adventurer, I decided to go for it. Last week I got insurance approval. This Thursday I will have my pre-screening and CT scan. If everything goes well, I will have the trial started in about one week. The interesting thing is I am KRAS mutant, not supposed to have Erbitux. Well, the purpose of this trial is to see if Sorafenib will make Erbitux more effective for KRAS and non-KRAS tumor. It will be interesting to see if it works for me. I asked my onc how many clinical trials I can have. She said as long as I am feeling good and no symptoms, I can participate in any trials that they have.

Peter

Comments

  • dianetavegia
    dianetavegia Member Posts: 1,942 Member
    Saw that!!
    Published research demonstrates that colorectal cancers with mutated KRAS genes do not respond to anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies such as Erbitux®. However, researchers believe that Imprime PGG® uses the body's own immune system by engaging a type of white blood cell called the neutrophil to fight cancer cells that are coated with antibodies like Erbitux. Such a strategy might be effective against tumors regardless of whether KRAS is mutated or not. Preclinical studies indicate that Imprime PGG® in combination with Erbitux® can reduce tumor growth.

    The open-label, 56-patient KRAS-mutated colorectal cancer study is being conducted at three U.S. locations. Patient enrollment begins this week. All subjects will receive Imprime PGG® at 4 mg/kg weekly plus standard doses of Erbitux®. Tumor measurements and determination of tumor responses for this study will be performed according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST)

    More Here

    That's GREAT Peter!
  • Fight for my love
    Fight for my love Member Posts: 1,522 Member
    Good for you,Peter.Go
    Good for you,Peter.Go ahead.Best luck to you with the new clinical trial.
  • Shayenne
    Shayenne Member Posts: 2,342

    Good for you,Peter.Go
    Good for you,Peter.Go ahead.Best luck to you with the new clinical trial.

    Peter!
    I wish you luck in this trial, please keep us updated on how it's going...we'd love to know! You will be in my prayers for strength and peace

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna
  • Sundanceh
    Sundanceh Member Posts: 4,392 Member
    Peter the TrailBlazer
    Peter

    I admire your courage and spirit - damn the torpedos and full speed ahead - we have that in common - someone has to be the first or one of the first pioneers to blaze a trail to the new frontier - and you are definitely one of those.

    I applaud your spirit and your attitude and I'm hoping for something really wonderful to talk about real soon.

    Go Peter GO!

    -Craig
  • ittapp
    ittapp Member Posts: 383 Member
    Good Luck Peter, I remember
    Good Luck Peter, I remember reading one of your posts a long time ago. I think it was calling all stage IV and I have thought about how your were doing recently. I hope this works for you and will say a prayer for you tonight. How are you feeling? I know you said you excercise, are you still doing that? Patti
  • peterhw
    peterhw Member Posts: 69
    ittapp said:

    Good Luck Peter, I remember
    Good Luck Peter, I remember reading one of your posts a long time ago. I think it was calling all stage IV and I have thought about how your were doing recently. I hope this works for you and will say a prayer for you tonight. How are you feeling? I know you said you excercise, are you still doing that? Patti

    I am doing very good
    Hi Patti,

    I still do exercise everyday. One hour walking in the park, when it is too cold I walk on treadmill. One hour yoga. I do juice once or twice a day. The last two months I was not doing any chemo, so I experiment with some natural anti-cancer stuff. I take Curcumin 8 gram, IP6 8 gram, EGCG and some milk thistle daily. Next scan we will see if they work. Unfortunately Curcumin will interfere with Irinotecan, so I will have to stop taking it once the trial starts.

    Peter
  • pokismom
    pokismom Member Posts: 153
    peterhw said:

    I am doing very good
    Hi Patti,

    I still do exercise everyday. One hour walking in the park, when it is too cold I walk on treadmill. One hour yoga. I do juice once or twice a day. The last two months I was not doing any chemo, so I experiment with some natural anti-cancer stuff. I take Curcumin 8 gram, IP6 8 gram, EGCG and some milk thistle daily. Next scan we will see if they work. Unfortunately Curcumin will interfere with Irinotecan, so I will have to stop taking it once the trial starts.

    Peter

    What States?
    Hi Peter,
    Great news for you! Do you know what three states are participating in this trial? I'd like to follow up too!
    Thanks
    Donna
  • peterhw
    peterhw Member Posts: 69

    Saw that!!
    Published research demonstrates that colorectal cancers with mutated KRAS genes do not respond to anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies such as Erbitux®. However, researchers believe that Imprime PGG® uses the body's own immune system by engaging a type of white blood cell called the neutrophil to fight cancer cells that are coated with antibodies like Erbitux. Such a strategy might be effective against tumors regardless of whether KRAS is mutated or not. Preclinical studies indicate that Imprime PGG® in combination with Erbitux® can reduce tumor growth.

    The open-label, 56-patient KRAS-mutated colorectal cancer study is being conducted at three U.S. locations. Patient enrollment begins this week. All subjects will receive Imprime PGG® at 4 mg/kg weekly plus standard doses of Erbitux®. Tumor measurements and determination of tumor responses for this study will be performed according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST)

    More Here

    That's GREAT Peter!

    Different clinical trial
    Hi Diane,

    My clinical trial is different from the PGG+Erbitux. I did look into the PGG trial, and visited the doctor at Sloan who is one of the investigators. He didn't recommend that one for me, the reason is I have not exhausted all chemo options. I figured if I exhausted all chemo options, I will be in hospice and too weak to do any trial. So I went to Johns Hopkins. The trial I participate is NCT00134069. More details here http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00134069?term=sorafenib+erbitux&rank=3

    NCI also have a similar trial NCT00343772 without Irinotecan. More details http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00343772?term=sorafenib+erbitux&rank=1

    Hope this will help anyone that is interested in these trials.

    Peter
  • peterhw
    peterhw Member Posts: 69
    pokismom said:

    What States?
    Hi Peter,
    Great news for you! Do you know what three states are participating in this trial? I'd like to follow up too!
    Thanks
    Donna

    Hi Donna
    The clinical trial I participate is different from the one Diane mentioned in the article about PGG. But I do know that Dr. Segal at Sloan Kettering is one the investigators of the PGG trial.

    My clinical trial is at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. It involves three drugs, Erbitus, Irintecan and Sorafenic (or Nexavar). There is another one at National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD. Bit it is without Irinotecan.

    I will keep you guy updated with new development.

    Peter
  • linandtom
    linandtom Member Posts: 67

    Saw that!!
    Published research demonstrates that colorectal cancers with mutated KRAS genes do not respond to anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies such as Erbitux®. However, researchers believe that Imprime PGG® uses the body's own immune system by engaging a type of white blood cell called the neutrophil to fight cancer cells that are coated with antibodies like Erbitux. Such a strategy might be effective against tumors regardless of whether KRAS is mutated or not. Preclinical studies indicate that Imprime PGG® in combination with Erbitux® can reduce tumor growth.

    The open-label, 56-patient KRAS-mutated colorectal cancer study is being conducted at three U.S. locations. Patient enrollment begins this week. All subjects will receive Imprime PGG® at 4 mg/kg weekly plus standard doses of Erbitux®. Tumor measurements and determination of tumor responses for this study will be performed according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST)

    More Here

    That's GREAT Peter!

    Imprime info
    I had a friend at Sloan-Kettering ask Dr about this study as we were thinking about making a trip there and checking it out. Dr at Sloan-Kettering said this study was not producing the results they had hoped for and he would not recommend we travel that far to see if a candidate. Just a FYI - as we have found - one treatment may work well for some and then not so well for others...