Co-directors for Banner MD Anderson Biorepository are chief of pathology Kevin McCabe, D.O. and division chief of surgical oncology Judith Wolf, M.D. Banner MD Anderson opened in September 2011 and the organization already is in the midst of cutting-edge clinical trials. “Research is missioncritical in the field of oncology,” Seabrooke said. A Phase III trial sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline and led by principal investigator Jade Homsi, M.D. at Banner MD Anderson is comparing the combination of the BRAF inhibitor dabrafenib and the MEK inhibitor trametinib to vemurafenib in patients with Stage IIIC (unresectable) or Stage IV BRAF V600E or V600K mutation-positive melanoma. The primary endpoint is overall survival for subjects receiving the combination therapy compared with those receiving vemurafenib. “Banner MD Anderson is the only site in Arizona out of 180 worldwide participating in this trial,” Seabrooke said. The study is currently recruiting patients; Banner MD Anderson hopes to enroll 10 of them. Hematology and Medical Oncology Division Chief Tomislav Dragovich, M.D. is the principal investigator for an open label, randomized Phase III trial of MM-398 Versus 5fluorouracil (5-FU) and leucovorin (also known as folinic acid) in metastatic pancreatic cancer patients who have progressed on prior gemcitabine-based therapy. The trial is sponsored by Merrimack Pharmaceuticals. The sponsor is looking to enroll 405 patients, including 10 through Banner MD Anderson.
Front-line therapy Another Phase III trial has just gotten underway to investigate a new frontline therapy for ovarian and related
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(From left) Kathleen Benson, Lee Seabrooke, Shannon Johnson and Barbara Lambeth.
Researchers key to new treatments, strategies Meet the research team at Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center Lee Seabrooke is the research administrative director for Banner MD Anderson. Seabrooke provides high level administrative, operational and strategic oversight for research activities at the center. Barbara Lambeth is a research nurse at Banner MD Anderson. She works with investigators on studies involving gynecologic cancers. The five main gynecologic cancers are cervical, ovarian, uterine, vaginal and vulvar.
She works with investigators on studies involving hematological, gastrointestinal and skin cancers. Shannon Johnson is a clinical research coordinator at Banner MD Anderson. Johnson works with investigators on studies involving breast, genitourinary, and thoracic head and neck cancers.
Kathleen Benson is a clinical research coordinator for Banner MD Anderson.
Shana Clark (missing above) is the research regulatory affairs coordinator for Banner MD Anderson. She assists investigators in the processing and submission of regulatory documents to both the Institutional Review Board and study sponsors.
cancers. Judith Wolf, M.D. is the principal investigator. This is a Phase III randomized, double-blind, placebocontrolled, multicenter study of AMG 386 with Paclitaxel and Carboplatin as first-line treatment of subjects with FIGO Stage III-IV epithelial ovarian, primary peritoneal or fallopian tube cancers. The study is sponsored jointly by AMGEN and the National Cancer Institute Gynecologic Oncology Group. The sponsors hope to enroll 2,000 patients, including 10 at Banner MD Anderson. “This is the first
study of an agent specifically targeted against ovarian and related cancers,” Seabrooke said. All other pharmacological agents used to treat these cancers until now were originally developed for other indications, he said. Information about these and all other clinical trials underway at Banner MD Anderson can be found at www.BannerMDAnderson.com/ ClinicalTrials. Physicians also are invited to follow a weekly update of the cancer center’s clinical trials on Twitter at @bannermdandersn (or search “BannerMDAnderson” on Twitter).