Adenoid cystic carcinoma in the news

News from the ASCO annual meeting:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oncomed-presents-first-in-human-phase-i-data-on-anti-notch23-antibody-at-asco-2012-06-02
Findings from the study going on at the START Center for Cancer Care were presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO).  Title of the poster:
"A First-in-Human Phase I Study to Evaluate the Fully Human Monoclonal Antibody OMP-59R5 (anti-Notch2/3) Administered Intravenously to Patients with Advanced Solid Tumors,"
This was the first in-human application of the drug - a Phase 1 study. They have 30 patients enrolled, and report that there is evidence that the "Notch pathway" is being modulated. "The Notch pathway plays a central role in embryonic development, the regulation of stem and progenitor cells, and is implicated centrally in many human cancers." Also from the press release: "Several patients had prolonged stable disease for greater-than or equal to 56 days (tumor types included Kaposi's Sarcoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, rectal cancer, and liposarcoma)." 
I believe this is the clinical trial entry - they are still recruiting: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01277146?term=OMP-59R5&rank=1 . I saw that one of the exclusions is "subjects with known HIV infection", which gave me pause, since one of the tumors mentioned is Kaposi's Sarcoma - but if you check here, you will see that HIV is not the only cause of KS.

One of the recipients of this drug may have been mentioned in an earlier news story on this blog: http://cheekylibrarian.blogspot.com/2011/04/adenoid-cystic-carcinoma-in-news.html . I emphasize the "may" - the earlier news item didn't name the treatment protocol given. 

Please remember that this finding does not signal our cure, nor even if there is an alternative towards managing ACC. This was a Phase 1 trial - to understand clinical trials and their types and phases, please check out this site: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/info/understand.