Helping patients navigate their cancer diagnosis, treatment, clinical trial options, and more
July 2, 2024
Video: An advocate and a physician discuss the SOAR study for patients with advanced kidney cancer
September 26, 2024Trial Results: How one patient’s role in an ECOG-ACRIN study for acute lymphocytic leukemia brought a cancer-free diagnosis and FDA approval
Becky Yu (pictured with her daughters) underwent treatment for acute lymphocytic leukemia at the Abramson Cancer Center. Yu enrolled in the E1910 clinical trial for a therapy that the FDA later approved in June 2024. (Image: Courtesy of Penn Medicine News)
Current chemotherapy treatments for adults with newly diagnosed B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) frequently lead to remission—where the bone marrow and blood cell counts return to normal. In addition, it is common for patients to continue with lengthy chemotherapy treatments to stay in remission. But unfortunately, relapses often occur in patients, leading to poor survival rates.
Relapse of leukemia can even occur in patients with no leukemia able to be found after they complete initial chemotherapy. A test of blood or bone marrow samples looks for low levels of cancer cells not killed by cancer treatment and not visible on other tests. Doctors refer to the test as 'minimal residual disease' or 'MRD.'
A recent research study led by the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN) shows excellent results for patients who tested negative for MRD after initial treatment. The E1910 clinical trial found that adding an immunotherapy drug to chemotherapy keeps most patients in remission and improves their survival. The drug is blinatumomab (BLIN-a-TOOM-oh-mab).
Recently, the University of Pennsylvania’s online publication Penn Today shared the story of Becky Yu, a patient at Penn Medicine who participated in the practice-changing E1910 clinical trial under the care of Selina M. Luger, MD. Dr. Luger leads the ECOG-ACRIN Leukemia Committee.
The therapy Becky received cured her cancer—and was later approved by the FDA in June 2024. The study results paper was recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine. A patient-friendly summary of the results is also available on the ECOG-ACRIN website.
Read the full story about Becky Yu on the Penn Today website.
