Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma in the news

A fellow Nebraskan with Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma is now in Tijuana, Mexico undergoing treatment at the Oasis of Hope. Here is the story about Adam Spady's current fight with ACC, as told in the Imperial Republican newspaper: http://www.imperialrepublican.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1394:bake-sale-to-benefit-adam-spadys-cancer-treatment&catid=36:news&Itemid=76

I took a look at his recent Caring Bridge journal entry, where he does quite a job at explaining how a long-time cancer patient views the treatment system here in the USA. Since I too have had life altered due to treatment, I completely understand his refusal of more chemo, now that his ACC is back. (Hasn't been much chemo to show effectiveness against ACC in the research.) I am so glad Adam has his family with him, and wish them all the best in their fight. If you are interested in donating to his travel funds, there are instructions in the newspaper article about who is collecting donations. (Note to anyone wishing to create a non-profit to support cancer patients - please consider writing checks for travel costs incurred by patients. Please!)

Another item in the news is a press release from the Exelixis company, who presented promising results on their drug known as XL147 this week at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in Boston. In the press release http://ir.exelixis.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=120923&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1356958&highlight=, They specifically say that a patient with adenoid cystic carcinoma "had a documented decrease of metastatic disease". The trial only included 21 patients, though, and has only been going since October 6, 2009. Patients have been treated with a combination of the XL147 and 150mg of erlotinib. There are currently 5 studies in ClinicalTrials.gov that are using XL147: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/results?term=xl147. I think this is the one that was reported at the conference: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00692640?term=xl147&rank=4. I am very happy for the one ACC patient that experienced a measurable decrease from this drug, but they need to get a whole lot more of us in that study before the results are truly remarkable. If you have ACC mets, take a look at understanding clinical trials here: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/info/understand , and consider contacting them to see if you can participate. Here is the contact information:

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00692640

Contacts
Contact: Exelixis Contact Line 1-866-939-4041

Locations
1. United States, Michigan
Karmanos Cancer Institute Recruiting
Detroit, Michigan, United States, 48201
Contact: Erik Troxtel 313-576-8496
Principal Investigator: Patricia LoRusso, DO

2. United States, Tennessee
Sarah Cannon Research Institute Recruiting
Nashville, Tennessee, United States, 37203
Contact: Narquita Kizzie 615-329-7426 Narquita.Kizzie@scresearch.net
Principal Investigator: Howard A. Burris, III, MD