A new clinical trial for patients who have undergone standard chemotherapy and surgery with recurring (or unresponsive) pleural mesothelioma will open later this year at all locations of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
This study will combine an agent targeting WT1, galinpepimut-S (GPS), with a PD-1 inhibitor, nivolumab.
How does this trial work?
WT1, short for Wilms’ tumor 1, is a protein highly expressed in mesothelioma cells (as well as many other cancers), but absent in normal cells. This characteristic makes it a great target for immunotherapy. While normally the immune system largely ignores the WT1 proteins, the purpose of GPS is to teach the immune system to attack it, thus killing the cancer cells.
A recent Phase II study of the GPS vaccine used alone, published in 2017, showed an improvement in progression-free-survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation funded part of the Phase I portion of this study, the results of which prompted the Department of Defense to also award funding for this topic.
Similarly, recent studies utilizing nivolumab and other PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors have shown hopeful results in some patients. These immunotherapy agents work by removing the brakes from the immune system, therefore activating it against the tumor.
In this particular study, the idea is to administer the two agents simultaneously, whereby nivolumab would enhance the effectiveness of GPS by removing the immune system’s own suppression against attacking WT1.
Dr. Marjorie G. Zauderer of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (also chair of the board of directors of the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation), will lead the study as its principal investigator.
Mesothelioma treatment currently includes only one FDA-approved treatment which is the combination chemotherapy of Alimta and cisplatin. Enrolling in a mesothelioma clinical trial gives the patient a chance to gain access to novel therapies not yet available to everyone.
For more information about clinical trials and treatment options, contact the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization) at (703) 879-3820 or [email protected].
