If you’ve been there, then you know. Patients experiencing cancer, especially the rare aggressive types such as pancreatic cancer, and requiring targeted treatment for the disease may soon be able to turn to ‘smart drugs.’ These drugs have created a new world for cancer patients and given these patients new options.
Principal investigator of the study, James Roychowdhury discusses how smart drugs can open a new world for cancer patients. These therapies focus strictly on genetic mutations that are responsible for the growth of each person’s disease characteristics. With respect to each individual’s disease, the genetic mutation can be found in the fibroblast receptors that are present in approximately one percent of patients with pancreatic patients.
The new treatment is being investigated through a new telehealth cancer clinical trial at the Ohio State Cancer Center and other local research Institutes.
About Pancreatic Cancer
The disease is rare and often aggressive. It is generally diagnosed in late stages when the cancer is less treatable, with about 64,000 new cases each year. Symptoms often occur after the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. The disease is somewhat more common in men than in women.
The disease is often diagnosed in later, less treatable stages because its symptoms usually occur after it has spread to other parts of the body. While surgery can be curative in the earliest stages of the disease, it is rarely detected before it has spread, and approved treatment options are limited. This, said Dr. Roychowdhury, is why expanding access to targeted drug therapy clinical trials is so critical.
Telemedicine: The New Silver Lining that Will Help Patients Overcome Cost and Travelling to Clinical Trials
The plan is to have the new telehealth study give patients from across the nation access to oral drug therapies without the need to travel to a different city or to another state. Dr. Roychowdhury, who has 10 years of experience with FGFR, will provide follow-up care by way of partnerships with the patients.
“This is a game changer for cancer clinical trials, and more importantly, patients.”
Dr. Roychowdhury has designed a registry for patients with rare forms of pancreatic cancer. He also noted that the program has been created to take the clinical trial options to the patient and in turn partner with oncologists in all areas of the United States. In this way, the program is designed to expand access to patients. Participants are in a position to make valuable discoveries by recruiting a greater number of patients.
The new trial will include partnerships with Caris Life Sciences, Incyte Pharmaceuticals, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, and Foundation Medicine Inc.
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