As an NCI-designated cancer center, MUSC Hollings Cancer Center offers clinical trials and therapies not available elsewhere in the state. Below are some of the newest and most promising clinical trials that are currently open to patients.
FORTIFI-NH01 is a randomized phase 2/3 trial of a first-in-class bifunctional antibody, ficerafusp alfa. This study is investigating if combining ficerafusp alfa with pembrolizumab, an immunotherapy that is already used in recurrent and metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), improves patient outcomes. John Kaczmar, M.D., the trial’s site principal investigator at Hollings, is optimistic about the new combination. Hollings was a high enrolling center in the phase 1 study of ficerafusp alfa.
Brian Hess, M.D., is leading a clinical trial of purified CAR-T cells manufactured at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. The hope for the phase I trial is that the purified CAR-T cells, which are used in patients with certain types of blood cancer, will prove to have fewer side effects and a longer-lasting result than commercial CAR-T cells currently on the market.
By manufacturing the CAR-T cells in-house, Hollings researchers control the entire process, resulting in a purer product. It should also substantially reduce the cost of this expensive therapy and could increase the effectiveness of the CAR-T cells.
MUSC Hollings Cancer Center radiation oncologist Harriet Eldredge-Hindy, M.D., is testing combining organ-sparing techniques with stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy (SABR) in a trial for men with low-risk or intermediate-risk prostate cancer that hasn’t spread beyond the prostate. The phase II trial delivers radiation in a new way that minimizes the dose to healthy tissues surrounding the prostate with the goal of reducing side effects.
A new sarcoma clinical trial at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center is testing the feasibility of offering a shorter course of preoperative radiation therapy for sarcoma patients to ease the logistical burden of accessing treatment. Under the standard course of treatment, sarcoma patients would need to be at the center for five weeks of preoperative radiation therapy, five days a week. Participants in the study will get their radiation done within a week.
Clinical trials coordinator Alexandria Green, right, has connected Rachael Leppert with two clinical trials and the pair have become close friends during the process. The second trial is a phase III study to confirm whether the addition of tucatinib to a standard of care treatment for HER2 positive breast cancer is beneficial to patients and helps keep their cancer in remission.
A phase II clinical trial at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center will investigate whether a common statin – a drug used to lower cholesterol levels – affects an immune system pathway that could lead to a stronger anti-tumor response in patients with prostate cancer.
Hollings researchers are conducting a phase 1 clinical trial that is testing combinations of drugs typically used to treat other diseases like HIV and diabetes to see if they can effectively kill cancer cells while also being less toxic than some chemotherapy drugs. Called the Combination of Autophagy Selective Therapeutics (COAST) trial, this study is currently open to patients with an advanced solid tumor of any type.
After a transplant, the standard of care for multiple myeloma patients like Glenn Bachmann is to remain on maintenance chemotherapy for the rest of their lives. A Hollings phase III trial is evaluating whether the addition of a drug called daratumumab might allow patients who are in deep remission to stop after about two years of treatment.
Hollings is enrolling patients in a national clinical trial aimed at improving breast cancer screenings and treatment options for women with, and without, health insurance. The trial, called Tomosynthesis Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (TMIST), will provide insights into which type of screening is best and how to improve future breast cancer care.
A bench-to-bedside-pioneered lung cancer immunology developed at Hollings is included in the national Lung-MAP clinical trial, which is currently enrolling patients at Hollings. The combination immunotherapy developed at Hollings will be offered as a treatment in the unmatched arm, which comprises patients with tumors that do not have mutations targetable with a drug, as opposed to a treatment arm.
