St. Jude Advances Cancer Treatment Through Research

Ongoing research and clinical trials are creating breakthroughs in cancers once thought insurmountable—and St. Jude is a leader in bringing these benefits from the lab to the bedside. Through partnerships with some of the nation’s top research consortiums, we offer patients from throughout Southern California access to many of the most promising and aggressive therapies available.

“Research at St. Jude has helped change the standard of care for cancers from lung to advanced breast cancer,” explains William Lawler, MD, Director of Clinical Research at the St. Jude Crosson Cancer Institute, who says immunotherapies and targeted therapies are two of the most exciting improvements in cancer treatment in decades. “Yet only a small handful of these therapies have finished the FDA-approval process, most are available only through clinical trials.”

St. Jude cancer experts are at the forefront of using next-generation sequencing technology to identify the cellular signature of an individual’s cancer, often allowing patients to benefit from clinical trials that target the specific genetic mutation driving a tumor’s growth.

Clinical trials currently underway include many cancer types and various stages of diagnosis. Below are a few of the open trials. For a complete list of current research trials and requirements, please call the St. Jude Oncology Research Department at (714) 992-3000 ext. 4332.

Bladder/Urothelial Cancer
Phase III, randomized, open-label, multi-center, global study of first-line durvalumab in combination with standard of care chemotherapy and durvalumab in combination with tremelimumab and standard of care chemotherapy versus standard of care chemotherapy alone in patients with unresectable locally advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer. NCT03682068. NILE.

Breast Cancer
Phase III, multicenter, randomized, open-label trial to evaluate efficacy and safety of ribociclib with endocrine therapy as an adjuvant treatment in patients with HR pos, HER2-neg patients. NCT03701334. NATALEE.

Phase III trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of MK-3475 (Pembro) as adjuvant therapy for TNBC with ≥ 1 cm residual invasive cancer or positive lymph nodes after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. NCT02954874.

Phase III trial with Elacestrant Monotherapy vs. SOC for ER+/HER2- advanced breast cancer following CDK4/6 Inhibitor Therapy. NCT03778931. EMERALD.

Brain Cancer
Phase 2, open-label study of ABI-009 (nab-Rapamycin) in bevacizumab-naïve patients with recurrent high-grade glioma and in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma. NCT03463265.

Lung Cancer
Phase III, multicenter, randomized, double blind, placebo controlled study evaluating the efficacy and safety of canakinumab versus placebo as adjuvant therapy in adult subjects with stages II-IIIA and IIIB completely resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). NCT03447769.

A study of neoadjuvant atezolizumab plus chemotherapy versus placebo plus chemotherapy in patients with resectable stages II, IIIA, or select IIIB non-small cell lung cancer. NCT03456063. IMpower030.

Open-label, multi-drug, biomarker-directed, multi-center phase II umbrella study in patients with NSCLC, who progressed on an anti- PD-1/PD-L1 and platinum containing therapy. NCT03334617. HUDSON.

Phase II randomized, multi-center, double-blind, global study to determine the efficacy and safety of durvalumab plus olaparib combination therapy compared with durvalumab monotherapy as maintenance therapy in patients whose disease has not progressed following
standard of care platinum- based chemotherapy with durvalumab in first line stage IV non-small cell lung cancer. NCT03775486. ORION.

Prostate Cancer
Phase III study of Pembrolizumab (MK-3475)/Docetaxel/Prednisone Versus Placebo/Docetaxel/ Prednisone in patients with chemotherapy-naïve metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) who have progressed on a next generation hormonal agent. NCT03834506.

Phase III study of Pembrolizumab (MK-3475)/Olaparib Versus Abiraterone Acetate or Enzalutamide in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC)
who are unselected for homologous recombination repair defects and have failed prior treatment with next-generation hormonal agent (NHA) and chemotherapy. NCT03834519.

Phase III trial of Pembrolizumab (MK-3475)/Enzalutamide Versus Placebo/Enzalutamide in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. (mCRPC) NCT03834493.