Clinical Corner
A Silent Disease
Kidney Cancer: A Silent Disease
Jessica Van Leer was experiencing pain in her abdomen when she arrived at the UF Health Shands Hospital E.R. After a series of tests, the medical team had two findings: the source of her pain was an ovarian cyst, but Jessica also had an incidental finding of a tumor on her left kidney.
“I was 32 at the time and wasn’t experiencing any symptoms, no pain,” said Jessica, who is now 35.
Recent studies have found an uptick in findings of kidney cancer similar to the way Jessica’s was found – incidental small kidney masses found by CT scan and MRI imaging when the patient is coming in for a different chief complaint.
The E.R. team’s discoveries led Jessica to Li-Ming Su, M.D., urologic surgeon, professor and chair of the UF College of Medicine’s urology department.
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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
Optimizing Haploidentical Aplastic Anemia Transplantation (CHAMP)
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, D.O., cell: 352.222.1423