Tonight, as part of the “Meet the Experts” podcasts presented exclusively by the Meso Foundation, Dr. Julie Brahmer, Associate Professor of Oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital, sat down with Mary Hesdorffer, Nurse Practitioner and Medical Liaison for the Meso Foundation, to discuss her new trial targeting pleural mesothelioma. In her talk “NGR-hTTNF: A New Multi-Center Drug Trial for Pleural Mesothelioma”, Dr. Brahmer discussed a new chemotherapy treatment, designed specifically for pleural mesothelioma patients.
To participate in the trial, one prior treatment regimen is required (for example Alimta and Cisplatin) which usually consists of 4 to 6 treatments. The NGR-hTTNF trial can then be offered in the second line setting. Patients will receive an active chemotherapy agent, and plus or minus the experimental drug NGR-hTTNF. This trial is available worldwide. In the United States, it can be obtained at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland, as well as a few others sites in Texas, California, and New York. According to Dr. Brahmer, it consists of a weekly treatment, with the most common side effects resulting in fatigue, nausea, headaches, and generalized weakness. The enrollment process into the NGR-hTTNF trial begins with an appointment with an investigator in trial.
The investigator reviews whether or not the patient is eligible based on treatments already received, the patient’s stage of mesothelioma, and his or her general physical well-being. Following this appointment, the patient must sign the consent form, after which eligibility is finalized through a few additional tests. If patients have responded positively or remain stable, chemotherapy will be discontinued after six cycles and patients will be extended an opportunity to receive NGR-hTTNF as a maintenance therapy. The primary end point of this trial will be to extend survival rates with secondary endpoints of improving quality of life and diminished symptoms of mesothelioma.
Having just returned from the annual Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference in Chicago, IL, where another expert from our “Meet the Experts” series — Dr. Lee M. Krug — gave his own summary of the event, Dr. Brahmer feels optimistic and excited about possibilities ahead. “I think a lot of the things we’re learning in lung cancer research may affect patients with mesothelioma,” she states. “There are some therapies being developed that stimulate the immune system, and I hope those types of drugs will have some type of role in combatting mesothelioma, as well.”
Dr. Brahmer’s research and clinical practice focuses on the development of new therapies for the treatment and prevention of lung cancer and mesothelioma. Dr. Brahmer has published several papers in this area of research and is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Thoracic Committee and Cancer Prevention Steering Committee. She is one of the founding Board members for the National Lung Cancer Partnership (formerly Women Against Lung Cancer). Within the National Lung Cancer Partnership she currently serves as a member and the Chairman of the Scientific Executive Committee. She serves on the medical advisory board of the Lung Cancer Research Fund and is a former member of the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation’s Science Advisory Board.
More information about this trial is available at the Meso Foundation by emailing [email protected] or by calling (703) 879-3820. If you missed tonight’s “Meet the Experts” presentation, you can replay Dr. Brahmer’s talk and find out more about our other mesothelioma research resources at curemeso.org.
