Researchers at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) have opened a clinical trial, which aims to evaluate a new treatment for solid cancer tumors and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) in combination with a chemotherapy agent called cyclophosphamide.
CINJ is a center of excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.
This trial, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, is combining the experimental drug ABT-888, an agent which targets DNA repair with the FDA-approved drug cyclophosphamide. ABT-888 is part of a new class of drugs, known as poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. Cyclophosphamide kills cancer cells by damaging the materials that makes up one's genes. This material (DNA) allows cancer cells to survive and reproduce. One's body has certain proteins that try to help repair DNA damage. ABT-888 may prevent such repair so that cyclophosphamide can kill more cancer cells, than if cyclophosphamide were given alone.
Antoinette R. Tan, MD, a medical oncologist at CINJ and assistant professor of medicine at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, is the lead investigator of the study. She notes, “ABT-888 blocks enzymes that repair DNA damage. The addition of this investigational agent affects the DNA repair process and in essence, helps cyclophosphamide, a DNA-damaging drug, do its job. Because cyclophosphamide is used in the treatment of several types of cancer, this new treatment combination could have implications across a wide spectrum. In particular, cell lines with BRCA mutations have been shown to be sensitive to PARP inhibitors, so this treatment may hold promise for metastatic patients with BRCA mutations.”
Before taking part in the trial, interested participants will undergo various examinations including a general physical and routine blood and urine tests. Selected patients will take ABT-888 by mouth and cyclophosphamide through a vein for a three-week cycle. Participants also will keep a medication diary and continue with standard testing such as blood work and physical exams throughout the trial period. If it is deemed the patient is having a positive response to the drug combination, the patient will have the option to continue with that course of treatment for the remainder of the study, which is expected to take two years to complete.