Clinical Trial for Surgically Resected NSCLC patients, Canakinumab drug

[Georgia]

My husband has stage 3B NSCLC.  Surgery was not an option for his tumor. He completed chemotherapy and radiation treatment in August this year. He recently started immunotherapy treatment with Durvalumab.

I recently read an article titled "The Cure for Everything" in the Nov. issue of AARP Bulletin and wanted to share the following. It was about Inflammation being linked to nearly every critical disease of aging and included the following statement:  "In a recent study, cardiologists in Boston reported on a clinical trial with more than 10,000 patients in 39 countries (mean age: 61) that tested to see if an anti-inflammatory drug could lower rates of  heart disease. They discovered that it could. But they also found that the same drug, canakinumab, reduced lung cancer mortality more than 77 percent, and reports of gout and arthritis (conditions linked to inflammation) also fell." The AARP article was very informative in general about how inflammation damages healthy cells and gives details about what causes and reduces inflammation, etc.

The statement of reducing mortality more than 77% was astounding to me; however I then found the drug was for adult patients with surgically resected NSCLC. However, I wanted to share this with any patients who fall in this category. When I asked my husband's oncologist about the drug, he was not familiar with it and did a web search, printed out 20 pages of primarily medical jargon type text which he gave to me; it was difficult for a lay person to understand. I also did a search for "canakinumab" on the Lungevity site but found nothing which prompted me to post this.

I found (per the Journal of Clinical Oncology 37, No. 15_suppl, published on line May 26, 2019) the drug canakinumab is in clinical trials and recruiting is for patients with surgically resected NSCLC, stages II-IIIA and IIIB (T>5 cm); details of inclusion and exclusion criteria can be found with the following link for Clinical Trial NCT03447769. Perhaps it will be informative and useful for patients who meet their criteria.

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT03447769

 

[Tom Galli]

Georgia,

Interesting.... We have a very active group on our forum who are undergoing treatment with Durvalumab. Here is the link. 

Stay the course.

Tom

[Georgia]

Thanks Tom.  Yes I did look through the postings on the Durvalumab forum before my husband started immunotherapy. My husband has had few side effects so far. Even though I was interested to read a posting by a patient who recently finished immunotherapy and had documented his condition and side effects throughout treatment. This was very informative and could be useful as treatment progresses.  To me, the patient's perspective is so much more valuable to have than advice from his medical team. I am thankful to have found this site so I can pass on suggestions to my husband.