She has proposed a study for SWOG's Survivorship Committee -- "A Randomized Trial of High Dose Vitamin D vs Placebo to Prevent Premature Discontinuation of Aromatase Inhibitors in the Adjuvant Setting."
"Between 30 and 50 percent of women taking adjuvant aromatase inhibitors discontinue their use before the prescribed five years because of side effects, predominantly stiffness and joint pain," says Klemp.
"Finding ways to decrease the rate of discontinuation is a priority in adjuvant breast cancer treatment."
The study would be a phase III double-blind, placebo-controlled trial testing whether 20,000 IU/week of supplementary vitamin D3, initiated at or before a patient's first dose of an aromatase inhibitor (AI), will reduce the rate at which patients stop taking their AIs.
Sumanta K. Pal, M.D., assistant professor, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center. Pal earned his M.D. from the University of California - Los Angeles, where he also completed his residency. He has had research project support from the Tower Cancer Research Foundation, the City of Hope Cancer Center, and the California Breast Cancer Research Program. He has also received a National Comprehensive Cancer Network Fellowship Award and a K12 training grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Pal has proposed a study that targets the "pre-metastatic niche" in high-risk localized prostate cancer.
"Based on observations in our laboratory at City of Hope," says Pal, "we have found a correlation in high-risk prostate cancer between VEGFR1 expression in benign lymph nodes and time to biochemical recurrence."
He hypothesizes that clusters of VEGFR1-positive cells may represent pre-metastatic niches that ultimately give a foothold to metastases. His proposal would give high-risk prostate cancer patients axitinib - a tyrosine kinase inhibitor with a high affinity for VEGFR1 - prior to surgery.
The primary outcome measured would be a biological endpoint - pre-metastatic niche density in pelvic lymph nodes.
"To my knowledge," adds Pal, "this would be a relatively new foray for the SWOG GU group."
Costs of the Young Investigator program are paid for with a gift from The Hope Foundation, SWOG's philanthropic arm, which raises funds for educational and research efforts.
Source: SWOG