Friends,
There seems to be way too many folks on this site with brain mets. I recently posted on this topic, but wanted to do so again to keep this issue fresh. There is a very early clinical trial involving Vorinostat (also known as SAHA) + Herceptin for B/C patients with metastatic disease. While this trial is not focusing on brain mets specifically, having had brain mets does not exclude you from the trial if they were previously treated with WBR and they are stable. The interesting thing to me about the trial is that Vorinistat has been shown in other studies (mice models and humans with giloblastomas) to cross the blood brain barrier.
So far, only nine patients have been enrolled on this trial, though it is just now rolling over from a Phase I to a Phase II trial. While it should open around the country as an ECOG multi-center trial in about six months, it is currently only available at two sites: one in Philadelphia and one in New York. If you are interested, I can give you the principal investigator's contact information. You and/or your doctor can contact her directly to discuss the trial, eligibility criteria and whether it may make sense for you or your loved one to pariticipate.
Here is the www.clinicaltrials.gov link for this trial: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00258349
Here is an article published by Mayo regarding the use of Vorinostat with recurrent glioblastomas: http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2007-rst/4082.html
Finally, here is an article about the use of Vorinostat in the breast cancer mice model:
http://www.researchgrantdatabase.com/1Z01BC010538.html
Please understand I have no personal experience with this trial other than to be aware of its existence. I am, however, intrigued with the very early data relative to Vorinostat's ability to cross the BBB and attack brain cancer -- albeit in another form of brain cancer and in breast cancer mice models.
If you want contact information for the principal investigator, please email me at
clgilman1@yahoo.com
Stay well.
Cynthia
Linear Mode
