A clinical trial testing a new medication and whole brain radiation therapy for patients with non-small cell lung cancer and brain metastases is underway at Yale School of Medicine.
A clinical trial testing a new medication and whole brain radiation therapy for patients with non-small cell lung cancer and brain metastases is underway at Yale School of Medicine.The principal investigator, Jonathan Knisely, associate professor of therapeutic radiology, said the Phase 3 clinical trial combines Xcytrin (motexafin gadolinium) injection and whole brain radiation therapy. Xcytrin is the first of an investigational class of drugs called texaphyrins, which are rationally designed small molecules that work inside cells to improve the benefit of radiation therapy. The so-called Study of Neurologic Progression with Motexafin Gadolinium and Radiation Therapy Trial will enroll about 550 patients at leading medical centers in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe. 'We look forward to enrolling lung cancer patients with brain metastases, a very serious, yet often under-recognized complication of cancer,' Knisely said. Positive results in the SMART Trial may provide a basis for approval of the treatment by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. |
