Another abstract from ASH, this one called "A Phase 1 Study of the Selective Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase-Delta (PI3Kδ) Inhibitor, Cal‑101 (GS-1101), in Combination with Rituximab and/or Bendamustine in Patients with Previously Treated, Indolent Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (iNHL)."
Quite the mouthful, but here's what it's all about:
Studies have already been done on a treatment called Cal-101, a type of treatment called a kinase inhibitor. In a nutshell, it works by blocking several pathways that the cancer cell needs in order to survive. In this way, it causes apoptosis -- the cell kills itself. It's been used in several types of blood cancers -- lymphomas and leukemias; a few people in the support group have taken it, with excellent results.
This ASH study looks at Cal-101 when it is combined with either Rituxan or Rituxan + Bendamustine. It's a phase 1 study, which means it looks at a fairly small group of patients, and is interested in effectiveness, but especially in safety.
What this study found was that the combinations were both effective and safe. All three treatments -- Cal-101, Rituxan, and Bendamustine -- are effective and safe on their own, for certain populations. This study wanted to measure in particular how well the side effects of the three treatments would balance out.
The conclusion is they balance out fairly well. As a phase 1 study, it's not trying to come up with all of the answers. But it did find some great information that will be used to design phase 2 and 3 studies.
This kind of study is especially important, in my humble opinion, because I believe the future of cancer treatment -- especially Follicualr NHL treatment -- will not be in single-agent solutions, but in combinations that attack the cancer in different ways. More studies like this, exploring combinations of different, effective treatments, may be the key.
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3 comments:
Hello I was in the Cal 101 study with sucess for 2 years.
I had no side effects and found the oral study to be most effective. It seems my body got immune to the test after a 2 year period and I was taken of the Cal 101. I received 50 to 75% decrease in my lymph nodes. It certainly provided me with a 2 year relief from chemotheraphy.
Rich
Rich, that's awesome. Glad to hear you've had some success. I've known a few people in that trial who had similar results -- and a few others who did great on Bendamustine and Rtuxan. What a perfect storm that would be if all three worked in snych.
Well, I was in chemo treatment with Rituxan and Bendamustine...too many side effects with Bendamustine. No progress at all on CLL. Lucky enough to get into trial with Dr. Coutre at Stanford. Probably because of prior experience with Bendamustine, I was placed on Rituxan and CAL 101 only. For 1 1/2 years Have had very good results. Hope it continues.
Julie
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