Checkpoint Inhibitors-SSLC - 1265956

mazzabarwell
Posts:1

My friend has late stage SSLC. She has had two lots of chemo and radiotherapy which are not working on her brain which it has spread to. They are running out of options for her. I have been reading about "Nivolumab" and "keytrunda" drugs which are checkpoint inhibitors. These sound very interesting. Do you know where I can find out if they are trialing these drugs on SSLC as so far just seen articles regarding NSCLC, she is based in the uk, but of course is willing to travel. Are there any other checkpoint inhibitors that may be of interest to us.

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JimC
Posts: 2753

Hi mazzabarwell,

I am sorry to hear of your friend's cancer diagnosis. There are trials of checkpoint inhibitors for small call lung cancer, and the best place to search for them is at clinicaltrials..gov For example, a search of nivolumab and SCLC came up with this trial, which is recruiting in the UK, among other places: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01928394?term=SCLC+AND+nivolu…

The most recent GRACEcast on the subject of new treatments for SCLC can be found here: http://cancergrace.org/lung/2014/09/10/iaslc_owonikoko_sclc_treatment_a…

JimC
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Dr West
Posts: 4735

Immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies tend to take weeks to months to work effectively, and that can be a problem for a fast growing cancer like SCLC tends to be. I know of no work on these agents in SCLC, though I have to imagine we'll see some at some point as they penetrate more broadly into many cancer settings. However, I think SCLC is not a place that lends itself easily to a treatment that requires weeks to months to begin to work effectively.

Good luck.

-Dr. West