WVU Medicine included in international clinical trial for blood and marrow cancer patients

WVU Medicine is one of 16 healthcare sites in the world that has been approved to participate in a clinical trial that involves administering actinium, a radioactive agent which targets cancer cells.

The trial, conducted in four phases, is a treatment for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (blood and marrow cancer). The second phase will be completed in the spring.

WVU Medicine was chosen because of its “consistently high quality work in hematologic malignancy,” said Michael Craig, MD, section chief of hematology and oncology and medical director of the Osborn Hematopoietic Malignancy and Transplantation Program. “We have historically treated patients via clinical trials, and have a good reputation for this. Being included in this trial reflects the quality work of our clinical and research teams. We are able to show excellent trial accruals and excellence with past work and publications.”

The other centers in the US are: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Hospital in Seattle; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York; the University of Pennsylvania; Ochsner in Louisiana; and Columbia in New York.

As of late 2017, the trial has provided treatment for more than half of its 50-patient protocol, including four who have been treated at WVU.

The results of the trial won’t be known for months.