Clinical Corner
"Sarah’s Superman Inspires Career Battling Cancer" + Clinical Trial Highlight
Sarah’s Superman Inspires Career Battling Cancer
Before opening the door, Sarah Wheeler prepares for the unknowable monster taking hold on the other side. She’s aware that cancer can yank her patients’ lives off their desired paths and reroute them through a dark, uncertain one.
That’s because it’s taken Sarah down the same road.
“If you’ve walked through those trenches, if you’ve walked through the valley of the shadow of death yourself,” said Dr. James Lynch, a professor of hematology and oncology at UF Health, “you are a much more sensitive and caring person because you can relate on a level that other people simply can’t.”
Sarah, a clinical pharmacy specialist at UF Health Shands Cancer Hospital, has an enormous challenge every time she approaches her patients’ bedside. The 33-year-old from Plant City, Florida, must arm her patients with the knowledge they need to battle the fear that comes with a cancer diagnosis, while coordinating their treatment.
Each trip Sarah takes to her patients’ rooms can be traced back to her own life-altering experiences with cancer. Her father, Wayne Wheeler, was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer when she was 15 years old. Wayne was given 18 months to live, but her “Superman” survived nearly four years.
“Daddy’s illness totally was the precipice for why and how I became a pharmacist,” Sarah said. “His fighting spirit through the whole thing really gave me a lot of things to aspire to as I grew up and ways to kind of handle hard situations.
“With some of the chemotherapy he had, he’d get nauseous and vomit. What was interesting sometimes was to see him throw up and then go right back to what he was doing. He was really determined in not letting cancer dictate his life. Throughout his cancer treatment, he was a walking miracle.”
Five years after Wayne died, her mother Charlene, aka Charlie, was also diagnosed with cancer on her 50th birthday — coincidentally, the same cancer her father had.
To read more of the story, click here.
Clinical Trial Highlight
PARTICIPANTS NEEDED FOR HEAD AND NECK CANCER RESEARCH STUDY
About: The purpose of this study is to understand the opinions of individuals who have had head and neck cancer. Specifically, we want to understand what they think about how to make clinical trials easier to participate in.
Study participants will spend about 30 minutes on the phone answering questions.
Participants must be at least 18 years of age, must be a head and neck cancer patient or survivor, and must have access to a telephone.
Contact: Marta Hansen | 877.272.7409 | m.hansen1@ufl.edu
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With more than 150 clinical trials open and currently recruiting patients, the UF Health Cancer Center has numerous options for 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.
A Phase 1b/2 Study of XMT-1536 In Cancers Likely to Express NaPi2b F
First-in-human, Phase 1b/2 safety study of the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) XMT- 1536 (upifitamab rilsodotin) administered as an IV infusion once every four weeks. Patients with tumor types likely to express NaPi2b are being enrolled in dose escalation. Patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer and non-small cell lung cancer (adenocarcinoma subtype) are being enrolled in the expansion segment of the this study. Patients with platinum-resistant, high-grade serous ovarian cancer are being enrolled in the UPLIFT segment of this study. In addition to safety assessments, the pharmacokinetics of the drug will be assessed along with ADC activity.
Principal Investigator: Frederic Kaye, M.D., cell: 352.672.8860
Nivolumab and Ipilimumab in Treating Patients with Esophageal and GEJ Adenocarcinoma Undergoing Surgery
This phase II/III trial studies immunotherapy with antibodies, such as nivolumab and ipilimumab that may remove the brake on the body’s immune system and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy may reduce the tumor size and the amount of normal tissue that needs to be removed during surgery. A combined treatment with nivolumab and ipilimumab, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy might be more effective in patients with esophageal and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma who are undergoing surgery. Two opportunities for study entrance and randomization are available: 1) at diagnosis prior to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and 2) upon postoperative recovery.
Principal Investigator: Kathryn Hitchcock, M.D. cell: 352.246.0136
Regorafenib + Pembrolizumab in Pts with Advanced HCC previously treated with PD1/PDL1 Immune Inhibitors
This Phase 2 study is an open-label trial to assess the objective response rate, duration of response and safety of regorafenib in combination with pembrolizumab. Regorafenib is an oral multi-kinase inhibitor which targets angiogenic, stromal, and oncogenic receptor tyrosine kinase, and pembrolizumab is an intravenous immunotherapy PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor. This study will enroll patients who have previously been treated and failed other HCC treatments.
Principal Investigator: Roniel Carbrera, M.D. cell: 352.256.4385
Oral TP-3654 in Patients With Intermediate-2 and High-Risk Primary or Secondary Myelofibrosis
This study is an open-label trial to assess safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of TP-3654 in patients with intermediate-2 and high-risk primary or secondary Myelofibrosis. This study will enroll patients who have been previously treated and failed on a JAK inhibitor or ineligible to receive ruxolitinib or fedratinib.
Principal Investigator: Randy Brown, M.D. cell: 852.221.6828
