TGen, Scottsdale Healthcare study Abraxane combo for pancreatic cancer

A new cancer drug combination demonstrated significant improvement in overall survival of late-stage pancreatic cancer patients compared to those receiving standard treatment, according to results of a Phase III clinical trial led by physicians from Scottsdale Healthcare's Virginia G Cancer Center Clinical Trials, a partnership with the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).

Physicians at the Virginia G Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare were first to design a clinical trial to determine the safety, tolerability and effectiveness of nab-paclitaxel (biotech firm Celgene’s cancer drug Abraxane) in combination with the standard drug gemcitabine in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. Results of that multicenter study chaired by Daniel Von Hoff were encouraging enough that it led to one of the largest international studies ever done in pancreatic cancer, with 861 patients. Full results are expected to be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2013 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium in January 24-26 in San Francisco.

"This is a great example of rapid bench to bedside development of new treatments for cancer. We're ecstatic that we will have a new treatment for patients with late stage pancreatic cancer," said Dr Von Hoff, international lead investigator and chief scientific officer for the Virginia G Cancer Center Clinical Trials at Scottsdale Healthcare and TGen's Physician-In-Chief.