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Clinical Center for Targeted Therapy
Many of the new experimental medicines tested at MD Anderson are offered to patients through the Clinical Center for Targeted Therapy. The center is a leader in treating patients with drugs that are in Phase 1 of the clinical trials process.
The center offers many different types of experimental medications, such as new immunotherapies and chemotherapies. It also offers targeted therapies, which interfere with molecules that support cancer’s growth, progression and spread. In some cases, the center carries out Phase 2 trials of these drugs.
Existing patients are referred to the center when one of our clinical trials offers the best treatment option. To make these decisions, we are in constant collaboration with MD Anderson’s primary care centers. We also accept external physician referrals and patient self-referrals.
Request an appointment
Existing MD Anderson patients should be referred to us through their primary care center.
New patients can refer themselves in one of these ways:
- Complete the self-referral form
- Have your doctor submit a physician referral form
- Call the patent referral hotline at 713-563-1930
When calling, please have the following information ready:
- Patient name, telephone number and insurance information
- Referring physician's name, office address, telephone and fax numbers
- Diagnosis
- Date of diagnosis
- How the diagnosis was made (physical exam, biopsy, other)
- What treatment, if any, has taken place
- Over what time period the treatment has occurred
- Specific medical and pathology reports may also be requested for review before your first visit
Not all referrals qualify for our clinical trials. Our staff will work with you or your referring physician to determine whether you qualify and to schedule your first appointment.
Meet our team
- Vivek Subbiah, M.D., Clinical Medical Director
- Funda Meric-Bernstam, M.D., Chair
- Ecaterina Dumbrava, M.D.
- Siqing Fu, M.D., Ph.D.
- David Hong, M.D.
- Filip Janku, M.D., Ph.D.
- Daniel Karp, M.D.
- Aung Naing, M.D.
- Sarina Piha-Paul, M.D.
- Jordi Ahnert Rodon, M.D.
- A.M. Tsimberidou, M.D., Ph.D.
- Timothy Yap, M.B.B.S., Ph.D.
Each cancer patient is unique. And when developing a cancer treatment plan, our doctors consider all of the things that make patients unique, including diagnosis, medical history and treatment preferences. Targeted therapy enables us to personalize cancer treatment even further by tailoring drugs to the genetic characteristics of a patient’s specific tumor.
“Targeted therapy attacks the genetic change within the cancer cell regardless of the tumor type, so we don’t worry if it’s breast cancer, lung cancer or prostate cancer,” says Vivek Subbiah, M.D., clinical medical director of MD Anderson’s Clinical Center for Targeted Therapy. “We focus on the DNA of the cancer cells.”
Sometimes referred to as precision medicine or as personalized medicine, targeted therapy aims to stop or slow the growth of cancer. Targeted therapy drugs are given either as a pill or through an IV.
How targeted therapy personalizes cancer treatment
Cancer develops when a normal cell’s genes change, causing the cell to quickly divide and multiply out of control. The change in the cell’s genes is called a mutation. About 5-10% of cancers are caused by genetic mutations passed from parent to child (such as BRCA1 and BRCA2), but many are caused by factors such as age, sun damage or tobacco use. No matter how the mutation forms, targeted therapy works the same.
Targeted therapy is different than traditional chemotherapy. While chemotherapy kills all cells that multiply quickly regardless of whether they’re cancerous, targeted therapies are designed to find and slow the growth of the cells that have a particular mutation. The mutation is identified in a process called next-generation sequencing. During this process, a small tissue sample from the tumor is removed and tested.
Targeted therapy side effects
Because targeted therapies attack cancer cells, some patients experience fewer side effects than with chemotherapy. Although it depends on the type of targeted therapy you receive, possible side effects can include diarrhea, skin changes, such as itchiness, rash and changes in skin pigmentation, and problems with bleeding, blood clotting and high blood pressure.
Phase I clinical trials focus on making targeted therapy available for more patients
Targeted therapy may not be an option for everyone. Not every patient’s tumor carries a genetic mutation that’s been identified as cancer-causing or that has a potential treatment option. And just like chemotherapy, it’s not guaranteed to work in all patients.
Currently, targeted therapies approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Association (FDA) are available for patients with BRCA, BRAF, EGFR, ALK, ROS1 and HER2 genetic mutations. These mutations have been linked to breast cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer and melanoma, among several others.
But researchers are constantly working to identify more cancer-causing genes and, in turn, develop new targeted therapies through Phase I clinical trials. The goal is to build on the successes of existing targeted therapies by combining them with other targeted therapies, as well as other treatments like chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiation therapy.
“We want to know if a drug works in treating these cancers, but we also want to know about the drugs that don’t and we want to know why not,” Subbiah says.
Phase I targeted therapy clinical trials offer more time
With some widely-used FDA-approved cancer drugs, only 2% to 20% of patients see a response. “Sometimes, these drugs are only adding days to a patient’s life,” Subbiah says. But in some early-phase clinical trials testing new, experimental targeted therapy drugs, Subbiah and his team have seen 35% to 77% of patients respond well.
“These mutations can be rare, like picking a needle out of a haystack. But there is a theme here -- the response rates are higher when we match right therapies to the right genetic makeup,” Subbiah says. “So I encourage patients to keep an open mind, ask for genetic testing of the tumors and talk to their doctor about the possibility of joining a Phase I clinical trial.”
Historic advances and what’s on the horizon for targeted therapy
MD Anderson’s clinical trials have led to FDA approval of targeted therapies for several rare diseases, including the first ever FDA-approved treatment for BRAF V600E mutation-positive anaplastic thyroid cancer and BRAF V600E mutation-positive Erdheim-Chester disease. In addition, research led by David Hong, M.D., found the drug larotrectinib effectively treats 17 cancer types that have the TRK gene mutation.
“Right now, we’re excited about RET inhibitors,” Subbiah says. RET-driven cancers include medullary and papillary thyroid cancers, non-small cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer and bile duct cancer, all of which have historically been difficult to treat.
“We’re finding more genetic mutations each day, and clinical trials are helping us find new therapies that will benefit even more patients,” Subbiah says. “If targeted therapy isn’t an option for you today, that doesn’t mean there won’t be one for you in the near future. In the last five years, I’ve seen amazing drugs come into the clinic for our patients.”
Request an appointment at MD Anderson online or by calling 1-877-632-6789.
Need Directions?
The Clinical Center for Targeted Therapy is in the Main Building, Floor 11, near Elevator B.
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