NEW YORK – The Ivy Brain Tumor Center said Thursday that its Pharmacodynamics Core Leader An-Chi Tien has been awarded a one-year, $50,000 grant for work in genetic analysis of meningioma tumors by the American Brain Tumor Association.
Tien is carrying out tumor analysis to predict patients' response to Novartis' CDK4/6 inhibitor Kisqali (ribociclib) in an investigator-initiated clinical trial in collaboration with Ivy Center biostatistician Wonsuk Yoo and Christopher Plaisier, an assistant professor of biological and health systems engineering at Arizona State University.
In the trial, patients with high-grade gliomas and high-grade meningiomas will receive Kisqali prior to surgical resection of the tumor. Investigators will collect cerebrospinal fluid and blood at select time points. Patients whose tumors show positive pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic effects will continue treatment with Kisqali. The outcome of the trial will be determined by progression-free survival and overall survival.
The trial is part of the Ivy Brain Tumor Center's Phase 0 clinical trial program. The Phoenix-based nonprofit, part of the Barrow Neurological Institute, is dedicated to finding new therapies for aggressive brain cancers. Through its Phase 0 program, it claims it is able to test therapeutic drug combinations matched to individual patients faster and at a lower cost than a traditional drug development program.
The Ivy center is conducting another Phase 0 precision oncology trial of QED Therapeutics' infigratinib in high-grade gliomas driven by FGFR genetic alterations.