UVA Heath begins new clinical trial to battle deadly melanoma
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WRIC) -- A research team at UVA Health System is pioneering a new approach to treating melanoma, one of the deadliest forms of skin cancer. University of Virginia's (UVA) melanoma researchers are testing the ability of focused ultrasound to increase the immune response to immunotherapy in melanoma. According to the CDC, In 2021, 90,365 new cases of melanoma of the skin were reported in the U.S. UVA’s melanoma trial is designed for 11 adult patients with advanced melanoma who are already getting immunotherapy and plan to undergo surgery. The trial will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of focused sound waves to increase the benefits of immunotherapy combined with surgical removal of cancerous tumors. UVA Health surgical oncologist, Dr. Lynn Dengel, is leading the clinical trial and said she is excited to bring this new potential therapy to her patients. “It's really gratifying to see how the diagnosis of melanoma has changed over many years and how patients are doing so much better with immunotherapy," Dengel said. "But at the same time, it's then really hard to see when patients aren't responding.” This study is a potential way to improve that response. The treatment is made up of two parts. First, doctors will direct focused ultrasound ablation, which is an experimental non-invasive treatment that uses ultrasound waves to heat and destroy some of the tumor. Then, a shot into the tumor with an experimental drug called polyICLC. UVA Health said this drug activates the immune system. Dengel hopes that focused ultrasound can help change the tumor environment so that immunotherapy can work at the tumor site and teach researchers how the treatment affects the tumor and the area around it. UVA Health currently has one patient enrolled and is hoping to enroll the other 10 within two years. Neither the drug nor the FUSA machine used in this clinical trial have been approved by the FDA. You can find more information on the clinical trial here.
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WRIC) -- A research team at UVA Health System is pioneering a new approach to treating melanoma, one of the deadliest forms of skin cancer.
University of Virginia's (UVA) melanoma researchers are testing the ability of focused ultrasound to increase the immune response to immunotherapy in melanoma.
According to the CDC, In 2021, 90,365 new cases of melanoma of the skin were reported in the U.S.
UVA’s melanoma trial is designed for 11 adult patients with advanced melanoma who are already getting immunotherapy and plan to undergo surgery. The trial will evaluate the safety and effectiveness of focused sound waves to increase the benefits of immunotherapy combined with surgical removal of cancerous tumors.
UVA Health surgical oncologist, Dr. Lynn Dengel, is leading the clinical trial and said she is excited to bring this new potential therapy to her patients.
“It's really gratifying to see how the diagnosis of melanoma has changed over many years and how patients are doing so much better with immunotherapy," Dengel said. "But at the same time, it's then really hard to see when patients aren't responding.”
This study is a potential way to improve that response.
The treatment is made up of two parts. First, doctors will direct focused ultrasound ablation, which is an experimental non-invasive treatment that uses ultrasound waves to heat and destroy some of the tumor. Then, a shot into the tumor with an experimental drug called polyICLC. UVA Health said this drug activates the immune system.
Dengel hopes that focused ultrasound can help change the tumor environment so that immunotherapy can work at the tumor site and teach researchers how the treatment affects the tumor and the area around it.
UVA Health currently has one patient enrolled and is hoping to enroll the other 10 within two years.
Neither the drug nor the FUSA machine used in this clinical trial have been approved by the FDA.
You can find more information on the clinical trial here.
