Colon Cancer Cells
Image source: NCI Visuals Online
Patients with colon cancer that has metastasized to the liver may be eligible to participate in a clinical trial at the NIH Clinical Center.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) affects the colon and rectum, which are located at the lower end of the digestive tract. CRC is one of the most common cancers, and it often metastasizes, or spreads, to the liver. Because treatments that aim to use the patient’s own immune system to attack mCRC have not been very successful so far, Tim F. Greten, M.D., Deputy Chief of the Thoracic and GI Malignancies Branch, is leading a study that combines two different types of immunotherapy to see if one can enhance the effect of the other. VB-111 is an antiangiogenic drug that stops new blood vessels from sprouting off of established blood vessels. Tumors need a constant supply of new blood vessels to grow, and agents like VB-111 can inhibit the process of new vessel growth. Another type of immunotherapy involves unlocking the immune function of T cells, which are an essential part of the immune system. Cancer cells carry a protein (PD-L1) that binds to a protein on T cells (PD-1) like a lock and key. This binding prevents T cells from attacking cancer cells. Nivolumab is a targeted agent that stops these proteins from binding together, thus freeing T cells to do their job of attacking cancer cells. Investigators want to find out how VB-111 affects mCRC and whether adding nivolumab can enhance these effects for improved patient outcomes.
Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT04166383
NCI Protocol ID: NCI-20-C-0022
Official Title: Phase II Trial of VB-111 in Combination With Nivolumab in Patients With Metastatic Colorectal Cancer (mCRC)
The Center for Cancer Research is NCI’s internal cancer center, a publicly funded organization working to improve the lives of cancer patients by solving important, challenging and neglected problems in cancer research and patient care. Highly trained physician-scientists develop and carry out clinical trials to create the medicines of tomorrow treating patients at the world’s largest dedicated research hospital on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
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