Research Will Likely Impact the Standard of
Care for Two Types of Sarcoma
LOS
ANGELES, June 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- For the last
three decades, breakthroughs have been sparse for soft tissue
sarcomas, which are rare cancers that affect muscles, fat and other
connective tissues. Today, a global team of researchers funded by a
Stand Up To Cancer® (SU2C) grant announced clinical trial results
that point to a new immunotherapy treatment option for two of the
most common types of soft tissue sarcoma in adults, a breakthrough
that reduces the risk of relapse by 43% at two years and will
likely impact clinical practice for these cancer types.
The research was presented today at the 2024 American Society of
Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting.
The clinical trial, which was run by a SU2C Catalyst® Research
Team, was supported by Merck's (known as MSD outside of
the United States and Canada) Investigator Studies Program and
sponsored by the Sarcoma Alliance for Research through
Collaboration (SARC). SU2C Catalyst grants rapidly accelerate
clinical trials of new treatments and combination therapies.
"Immunotherapies have transformed cancer care for many cancers,
but in the 25 years I have been caring for sarcoma patients, we
haven't seen any significant advances for these kinds of sarcoma.
This study will change that," said David
Kirsch, M.D., Ph.D., leader of the SU2C Catalyst Research
Team and Head of the Radiation Medicine Program at Princess
Margaret Cancer Centre at the University Health Network in
Toronto, Canada. "From my point of
view, this is the most important study for patients with these
sarcomas in 30 years because it's addressing an important unmet
need."
The trial, called SU2C-SARC032, evaluated outcomes of 127
participating patients across 20 hospitals in four countries –
the United States, Canada, Italy
and Australia. Since sarcoma is
rare – it's diagnosed in around 15,000 people in the U.S. every
year – enrolling a sufficient number of patients to test whether
immunotherapy improved outcomes was challenging, explained
Kirsch.
Over the course of six years – beginning in 2017 – the
researchers persevered to enroll enough patients, even as the
COVID-19 pandemic slowed work considerably for many months. During
that time, SU2C worked closely with the team to extend funding
timelines and support the completion of the trial.
"It takes big ideas, unique collaborations – and in some cases,
a global effort – to help bring breakthroughs to patients impacted
by rare cancers," said Julian Adams,
Ph.D., president and CEO of SU2C. "We believed this could work with
the SU2C Catalyst approach, support from our donor Merck, and input
from the best minds in sarcoma research across the world."
Typically, the standard treatment for soft tissue sarcoma that
has not spread, or metastasized, to other parts of the body is
radiation followed by surgery. However approximately 50% of
patients with high-risk sarcomas subsequently experience cancer
recurrence or metastasis after treatment. A previous SARC-sponsored
clinical trial, also conducted with the support of Merck's (known
as MSD outside of the United
States and Canada)
Investigator Studies Program, in patients with established
metastasis had shown that two common types of sarcoma –
undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma and
pleomorphic/dedifferentiated liposarcoma – can respond to the
immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab.
"Sarcoma doesn't affect anywhere near the number of patients as
breast, lung, prostate or colorectal cancer, but people impacted by
sarcoma arguably need clinical trials even more," said Steven Young, president and CEO at SARC. "SARC
was delighted to have this research build on our prior trial to
determine if we could achieve meaningful advances of novel
treatment strategies that will profoundly impact the sarcoma
community."
Patients in the SU2C-SARC032 trial were separated into two
different groups: group 1 received the standard treatment of
radiation therapy and surgery; group 2 received the immunotherapy
drug pembrolizumab before, during and after radiation therapy, and
they received pembrolizumab again after surgery. The researchers
closely followed all patients in the trial and evaluated results
two years after each patient completed treatment. Results showed
that the addition of pembrolizumab reduced the risk of relapse by
43% at two years.
The SU2C Catalyst grant that supported the trial was
administered by SU2C's Scientific Partner, the American Association
for Cancer Research.
About Stand Up To Cancer
Stand Up To Cancer® (SU2C)
raises funds to accelerate the pace of research to get new
therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. SU2C is a
501(c)(3) charitable organization and was initially launched as a
division of the Entertainment Industry Foundation. Established in
2008 by media and entertainment leaders, SU2C utilizes these
communities' resources to engage the public in supporting a new,
collaborative model of cancer research, to increase awareness about
cancer prevention, and to highlight progress being made in the
fight against the disease. As of April 2024, more than 3,100
scientists representing more than 210 institutions are involved in
SU2C-funded research projects.
As SU2C's scientific partner, the American Association for
Cancer Research (AACR) and a Scientific Advisory Committee, led by
William G. Nelson, M.D., Ph.D.,
conduct rigorous competitive review processes to identify the best
research proposals to recommend for funding, oversee grants
administration, and provide expert review of research progress.
Current members of the SU2C Founders and Advisors Committee
(FAC) include Katie Couric,
Sherry Lansing, Kathleen Lobb, Lisa
Paulsen, Rusty Robertson,
Sue Schwartz, Pamela Oas Williams, and Ellen Ziffren. The late Laura Ziskin and the late Noreen Fraser are also co-founders. Julian Adams, Ph.D., serves as SU2C's president
and CEO.
For more information,
visit StandUpToCancer.org, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
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SOURCE Stand Up To Cancer