Clinical Corner
Trials & Updates
UF Health unveils renovated infusion clinic with new clinical trials capabilities
Written by Kacey Finch
UF Health unveiled its expanded and renovated adult infusion clinic in September.
The infusion clinic at the UF Health Medical Oncology – Davis Cancer Pavilion added 14 more chairs to accommodate the growing patient population, bringing the total to 50 chairs.
“The infusion clinic has grown tremendously over the last several years, and we’ve reached capacity for our current space and our current infusion chairs,” said Michele Scavone Stone, manager of the clinic. “The renovations will open up the center so that we can serve more patients.”
The renovations will also allow for physicians to give patients their infusion treatments, which involve drugs being delivered directly to the bloodstream to treat cancer, in a more timely and flexible manner, Stone said.
Besides needing more room for patients, the renovations were also necessary to enhance patient experience and safety, Stone said.
The renovated infusion space will now have walls between infusion chairs, allowing for a more private experience while still allowing an easy view of patients to nursing staff. The space will also be updated with a fresh color scheme and each infusion chair will have outlets and USB ports.
“Receiving an infusion can last any length of time, so we want it to be as comfortable as possible for the patient,” Stone said.
The renovated UF Health infusion clinic will also foster multidisciplinary care for clinical trial participants with a new phase one clinical trials component. An adjacent clinical trials laboratory will include a clinical research-dedicated -80 lab freezer, a refrigerated centrifuge and cabinetry that will be utilized for blood sample processing.
The renovation and phase one space demonstrates UF Health’s long-term commitment to early investigator trials, said David DeRemer, Pharm.D., assistant director of the experimental therapeutics incubator program at the UF Health Cancer Center.
“We have recently added trials from the NCI Experimental Therapeutics Clinical Trials Network into our portfolio,” DeRemer said. “We are excited about observing direct patient benefits from these trials for our patients in the state and region.”
For more information about UF Health Cancer Center clinical trials, click here.
Clinical Trial Highlight: Refractory Cancers
This issue of the UFHCC Connection highlights clinical trials currently recruiting patients with refractory malignancies.
Questions about how to send a patient? Please contact the Clinical Trials Office at cancer-center@ufl.edu
or 352.273.8675
This open-label, single arm study is investigating the use of niraparib (an oral PARP inhibitor) in patients with tumors known to have mutations in BAP1 and a variety of other DNA damage response pathway genes. The primary aim is to determine the objective response rate of patients with BAP1 and other DDR repair pathway deficiencies. Cohorts include the histologies above (regardless of mutation) as well as any tumor histology with a confirmed DDR repair pathway mutation.
Principal Investigator: Thomas George, M.D., cell: 352.339.6672
This is an investigator-initiated clinical trial that is based on the discovery of the importance of the Metnase complex in repairing chemotherapy-related DNA damage in leukemia. Ciprofloxacin has been identified as a metnase inhibitor that chemosensitizes leukemic myeloblasts to etoposide chemotherapy. The primary aims are to determine the maximum tolerated dose of ciprofloxacin that can be given in combination with a fixed dose of etoposide and determine the efficacy of the combination treatment in adults with resistant AML.
Principal Investigator: Randy Brown, M.D., cell: 859.221.6828
Adjuvant Pembrolizumab in Patients with Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
This phase III RCT assigns triple negative breast cancer patients with residual disease after neoadjuvant chemotherapy to one year of adjuvant Pembrolizumab versus standard of care. Adjuvant Capecitabine is allowed. Principal Investigator: Karen Daily, DO, cell: 352.222.1423
