Tissue Screening Leads To Good News...I Think

The final analysis of the tumor tissue is back and confirms that I have the ALK (Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase) gene mutation. The gene mutation is only present in about 5% of people that have lung cancer. The good news is that this opens up a new treatment option that I did not have before, but the treatment is not yet commercially available. The only way to get the new drug right now is to be a part of a study. Fortunately the doctor I've talked to in Indianapolis is one of the doctors conducting the study for Pfizer (the pharmaceutical company that developed the drug).

There are a couple more hurdles I have to cross before I can get into the study. First, Pfizer runs an independent tissue screening to confirm the presence of the gene mutation and then I need to go through a full medical work up to confirm that I meet the requirements for the study. Assuming these two conditions are met, I could start the study in about mid-July. The study is a Phase 2 study for efficacy and safety, which means they have already confirmed in Phase 1 that the drug is effective in inhibiting or slowing down tumors and may be able to keep them from growing in patients with lung cancer and the ALK gene mutation.

The drug is Crizotinib, a pill taken orally twice daily. It may be available commercially by fall, but getting into the test allows me to start now and I get the benefit of close monitoring during the study. So, assuming I meet the two criteria above I will join the study. This will require driving to Indianapolis (2 hours each way) at least once every three weeks for tests for the study, but I will be able to get some testing and scans done in Cincinnati as well.

So, it is time for waiting again. Waiting for a brain MRI next week and then for the results of the tissue screening and Pfizer confirmation that I meet the requirements of the study. Assuming I am accepted into the study, we will stop chemo and focus on the test drug.