The Lung Cancer Clinic at the UMass Memorial Cancer Center of Excellence
offers comprehensive care from one of the most experienced multidisciplinary
teams in New England. An essential part of this care is giving patients access
to promising investigative agents and protocols through a robust clinical trials
program.
"We are currently recruiting for four clinical studies designed for patients
at all stages of this complex disease," said thoracic surgeon Syed Quadri, MD,
MSc, assistant professor of surgery at UMass Medical School.
The Phase III international MAGRIT trial is for patients with early-stage,
non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have undergone surgery to resect the
tumor. It is sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline.
"This immunotherapy study looks at patients with a specific MAGE gene
expressed in tumor cells," Dr. Quadri explained. "The hope is that by giving
them a novel agent against this MAGE gene, their immune systems will be boosted
to fight the cancer so their chances of recurrence will be lower."
For patients with intermediate-stage NSCLC, the international ECOG 1505 trial
offers access to the targeted anti-angiogenic agent, bevacizumab (Avastin®).
Eligible patients are randomized to adjuvant chemotherapy alone or combined with
bevacizumab.
Two other studies - Montefiore and Millennium - are for patients with
metastatic NSCLC. These patients receive either standard chemotherapy alone or
combined with erlotinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, to determine if adding
erlotinib increases survival.
For more information about these clinical trials, contact Dr. Quadri or
Kendra Bradley, NP, at 508-334-8996