Clinical Trial: Testing Already FDA-Approved Drugs for Specific Gene Abnormality in Advanced Stage Cancers

Posted: Apr 13, 2017

What if cancer wan't defined by it's location in the body? Whether it was found in the liver, kidney, lung or blood, what if a specific genetic mutation caused the cancerous cells to grow? A new study is being sponsored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) called TAPUR: Testing the Use of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Approved Drugs That Target a Specific Abnormality in a Tumor Gene in People With Advanced Stage Cancer.

The study is being done in collaboration with seven pharmaceutical companies (AstraZeneca, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and Company, Genentech, Inc., Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., Pfizer) with up to 16 different drugs.

Patients with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin and Multiple Myeloma and Advanced Solid Tumors will be included in the study which will be open at many trial sites. Patients will be tested for their disease genetics and will then be separated into groups with the same genetic mutations. Each group will receive a drug that specifically targets those mutations.

Group 1 (VEGFR) Participants receive axitinib - dosage, frequency and duration per label VEGFR mutation, amplification or overexpression)	Drug: Axitinib Other Name: Inlyta ( Tyrosine Kinase (TK) Inhibitor )
Group 2 (Bcr-abl, SRC, LYN, LCK) Participants receive bosutinib- dosage, frequency and duration per label Bcr-abl, SRC, LYN, LCK mutations	Drug: Bosutinib Other Name: Bosulif ( Tyrosine Kinase (TK) Inhibitor )
Group 3 (ALK, ROS1, MET) Participants receive crizotinib - dosage, frequency and duration per label ALK, ROS1, MET mutations	Drug: Crizotinib Other Name: Xalkori
Group 4 (CDKN2A/p16, CDK4, CDK6) Participants receive palbociclib - dosage, frequency and duration per label CDKN2A/p16 loss, CDK4, CDK6 amplifications	Drug: Palbociclib Other Name: Ibrance ( Cyclin-Dependent Kinases (CDK) Inhibitor )
Group 5 (CSF1R, PDGFR, VEGFR) Participants receive sunitinib - dosage, frequency and duration per label CSF1R, PDGFR, VEGFR mutations	Drug: Sunitinib Other Name: Sutent
Group 6 (mTOR, TSC) Participants receive temsirolimus - dosage, frequency and duration per label mTOR, TSC mutations	Drug: Temsirolimus Other Name: Torisel ( Mammalian Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) Inhibitor )
Group 7 (EGFR) Participants receive erlotinib - dosage, frequency and duration per label EGFR mutations	Drug: Erlotinib Other Name: Tarceva ( Tyrosine Kinase (TK) Inhibitor )
Group 8 (ERBB2) Participants receive trastuzumab and pertuzumab - dosage, frequency and duration per label (ERBB2 amplifications)	Drug: Trastuzumab and Pertuzumab Other Name: Herceptin and Perjeta ( Immunotherapy , Monoclonal Antibody )
Group 9 (BRAFV600E) Participants receive vemurafenib and cobimetinib - dosage, frequency and duration per label BRAFV600E mutations	Drug: Vemurafenib and Cobimetinib Other Name: Zelboraf and Cotellic ( Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) Inhibitor ) ( MEK Inhibitor )
Group 10 (PTCH1) Participants receive vismodegib - dosage, frequency and duration per label PTCH1 deletion or inactivating mutations	Drug: Vismodegib Other Name: Erivedge
Group 11 (KRAS, NRAS and BRAF) Participants receive cetuximab - dosage, frequency and duration per label KRAS, NRAS and BRAF wildtype	Drug: Cetuximab Other Name: Erbitux ( Immunotherapy , Monoclonal Antibody )
Group 12 (Bcr-abl, SRC, KIT, PDGFRB, EPHA2, FYN, LCK, YES1) Participants receive dasatinib- dosage, frequency and duration per label Bcr-abl, SRC, KIT, PDGFRB, EPHA2, FYN, LCK, YES1 mutations	Drug: Dasatinib Other Name: Sprycel ( Tyrosine Kinase (TK) Inhibitor )
Group 13 (RET,VEGFR1/2/3,KIT,PDGFR?,RAF-1,BRAF Participants receive regorafenib- dosage, frequency and duration per label RET, VEGFR1, VEGFR2, VEGFR3, KIT, PDGFR?, RAF-1, BRAF mutations/amplifications	Drug: Regorafenib Other Name: Stivarga
Group 14 (BRCA1/BRCA2; ATM) Participants receive olaparib- dosage, frequency and duration per label Germline or somatic BRCA1/BRCA2 inactivating mutations; ATM mutations or deletions	Drug: Olaparib Other Name: Lynparza
Group 15 (POLE/POLD1;high mutational load) Participants receive pembrolizumab- dosage, frequency and duration per label Note: high mutational load defined per protocol	Drug: Pembrolizumab Other Name: Keytruda

Learn more and find the closest trial site here:

TUPAC Clinical Trial

To find eligible clinical trials for your myeloma, click here: Find Myeloma Clinical Trials on SparkCures

about the author
Jennifer Ahlstrom

Myeloma survivor, patient advocate, wife, mom of 6. Believer that patients can help accelerate a cure by weighing in and participating in clinical research. Founder of HealthTree Foundation (formerly Myeloma Crowd).