NGMC Offering Clinical Trials for Pancreatic Cancer Patients

Patients with previously untreated Stage Iv pancreatic cancer may be eligible for a new clinical trial.

The Cancer Center at Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) is one of only five sites in Georgia participating in the trial. According to a NGMC press release, pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer–related deaths in the United States in both men and women.  

“We are excited to offer this new clinical trial for pancreatic patients,” said NGMC oncology research and tumor registry manager Patti Rotunda in a released statement.  “We are hopeful that clinical trials such as this one will provide us with new treatment options that are so desperately needed, especially for patients in such advanced stages of diagnosis.”

Participants in the clinical trial will receive standard chemotherapy in conjunction with a novel monoclonal antibody called bavituximab.  

“In prior clinical studies for other cancers, bavituximab in combination with chemotherapy has demonstrated promising tumor response and survival for cancer patients when compared to separate studies using chemotherapy alone,” said Andrew W. Pippas, MD, an oncologist at the John B. Amos Cancer Center and Principal Investigator of the clinical trial for the five trial sites in Georgia.

Currently, there are approximately 70 ongoing clinical trials at NGMC. The trials include chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery for virtually all cancer sites including breast, lung and prostate cancers.

The pancreatic cancer trial will also be offered at John B. Amos Cancer Center in Columbus, Suburban Hematology Oncology Associates in Lawrenceville, DeKalb Medical Center in Decatur, and the Lewis Cancer and Research Pavilion at Saint Joseph’s/Candler in Savannah.

For more information, contact the Cancer Center at NGMC by calling 770-219-8820 or visiting www.nghs.com/cancertrials.