Lung Cancer Vaccine Being Tested at Rhode Island & Miriam Hospitals

Email to a friend Permalink

Tuesday, December 07, 2010

GoLocalProv Health Team

An estimated 222,520 new cases of lung cancer will have been diagnosed by the close of 2010, with lung cancer remaining the leading cause of cancer death in the United States. With this in mind, Rhode Island Hospital and The Miriam Hospital are participating in a new international clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a new vaccine for patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, the most common type of lung cancer. The study will evaluate effectiveness of a new vaccine targeted at non-small cell lung cancer with the goal of improving survival rates and quality of life while reducing recurrence rate.

Local Participants Sought

Led locally by the thoracic oncology team at Rhode Island Hospital and The Miriam Hospital, including thoracic surgeon Thomas Ng, MD; radiation oncologist Thomas Dipetrillo, MD; and medical oncologists Angela Plette, MD and Humera Khurshid, MD, the study will examine a new vaccine that triggers the body’s immune system to activate a response against cancer cells. Participants will either receive a series of 13 doses of the vaccine or a placebo, and participate in follow-up visits to be scheduled every two months for the remainder of the first year, and every three months for the next two years.

Patients who may be eligible to participate in the study must meet the following criteria:
• 18 years of age or older
• have been diagnosed with Stage IB- IIIA non-small cell lung cancer
• have undergone surgical resection of the lung cancer and show no evidence of disease following surgery
• Additional criteria must also be met and eligibility for participation will be determined by the research team.

The trial is sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline. For more information, please call the Lifespan Oncology Clinical Research Office at Rhode Island Hospital at 444-8856 or The Miriam Hospital at 793-4283 or visit www.lifespan.org/services/clintrials/ccc/trials/lung.htm