Memorial Sloan Kettering Opening New Mesothelioma Clinical Trial

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City will begin recruiting soon for its latest clinical trial involving patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma and the expanded use of immunotherapy. The single-center, phase I study will explore the effectiveness of pembrolizumab in combination with intensity-modulated pleural radiation therapy, known as IMPRINT, in treating unresectable disease. Pembrolizumab, also known by the brand name Keytruda, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2020 for treatment of a small subset of mesothelioma patients. As a well-known immunotherapy drug, pembrolizumab is being used today with mixed success for mesothelioma treatment, but mostly under special access programs by manufacturer Merck & Co., or in clinical trials. It has been approved also for several other types of cancers, the latest of which is gastric cancers, which was approved earlier in May. Immunotherapy in Combination Is Key Although immunotherapy alone has not been the answer for tough-to-treat cancers such as mesothelioma, researchers have been seeking new combinations to better maximize its potential. Memorial Sloan Kettering is one of America’s leading mesothelioma treatment centers, with an extensive research department. Investigators declined to discuss expectations or provide additional details regarding the trial with The Mesothelioma Center at Asbestos.com. The cancer center already is in the midst of eight activ...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Source Type: news