Advocate Aurora Health cancer clinics in Illinois and Wisconsin have joined a clinical trial studying a combination of immunotherapy drugs to treat people with a form of brain cancer.
Advocate Aurora Research Institute will conduct the study across the health system as part of its National Cancer Institute (NCI) Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP), which offers cancer clinical trials to patients in their own communities.
The clinical trial will evaluate whether replacing chemotherapy with immunotherapy can lengthen the amount of time before a patient’s cancer returns. The study directly compares treatment with radiation therapy plus two immunotherapy drugs – ipilimumab and nivolumab – to the standard treatment of radiation therapy plus chemotherapy with temozolomide in people who are newly diagnosed with a type of brain cancer called O6-Methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) unmethylated glioblastoma.
“Glioblastoma, or GBM, is the most common and also most aggressive form of primary brain cancer in adults,” said Nina Paleologos, MD. “Despite treatment with multiple types of therapies, GBM is almost universally fatal, with an average life expectancy of only 15 months following diagnosis.”
As part of their usual treatment for GBM, study participants will have surgery to remove the tumor. The study doctor will then run a test to determine if the participant’s tumor has a biomarker called unmethylated MGMT.
“Biomarkers or mutations in a tumor may sometimes provide us with information about how a patient might respond to a given treatment,” Dr. Paleologos said. “Previous studies have shown us that patients with the unmethylated form of MGMT respond less well to treatment with temozolomide chemotherapy than patients who have the methylated form of MGMT.”
As part of the study, participants whose tumors test positive for the unmethylated MGMT biomarker will be randomly selected to receive either the standard treatment or the investigational treatment.
Ipilimumab and nivolumab are types of monoclonal antibodies called checkpoint inhibitors. Researchers are studying whether they can help the body’s immune system attack the cancer and possibly interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread.
“GBM is a devasting form of brain cancer that can arise with virtually no warning,” said Katie Wozniak, director of cancer clinical trials research. “Advocate Aurora Research Institute is proud to support clinical trials like this that aim to extend the lives of our patients by limiting the growth of these cancer cells.”
The study, “Testing the use of the immunotherapy drugs ipilimumab and nivolumab plus radiation therapy compared to the usual treatment (temozolomide and radiation therapy) for newly diagnosed MGMT unmethylated glioblastoma,” is sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and led by NRG Oncology.
To learn more about Advocate Aurora’s research, visit aah.org/research.
About Advocate Aurora Research Institute
Advocate Aurora Research Institute is a not-for-profit, limited liability company of Advocate Aurora Health. Advocate Aurora has emerged as a national destination for patient-centered bench, translational and clinical research, and the Research Institute unifies the innovative research efforts throughout the health system. Advocate Aurora researchers focus on rapidly translating new discoveries from the scientist’s bench to the patient’s bedside and into the community we serve to improve options and outcomes that change not only the lives of individuals, but transform the health of populations.