SA Site Of New Cancer Drug Testing

Rival Pharmaceutical Giants Join To Test Drug At SA Research Center

Katrina Webber, KSAT 12 News Reporter

POSTED: Tuesday, January 5, 2010
UPDATED: 7:31 am CST January 6, 2010

SAN ANTONIO -- San Antonio is providing the backdrop for what could be the development of a new type of cancer treatment.

In an unprecedented move, rival pharmaceutical giants AstraZeneca and Merck & Co., Inc., announced last June that they were joining forces to test their own experimental anti-cancer drugs in concert with one another.

Now, that testing has begun at San Antonio’s South Texas Accelerated Research Therapeutics, or START, center.

"They put aside their usual secrecy and have actually brought the two drugs together," said Anthony Tolcher, M. D., START’s clinical director.

START is the first cancer care center to begin Phase 1 of the study, which involves administering two different pills -- Merck’s MK2206 and AstraZeneca’s AZD6244 -- to about 30 patients who have solid tumor-type cancers. A clinic in London is also set to begin the trials soon.

Richard McCloskey, diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer a year ago, began the therapy in San Antonio just before Christmas.

The Metairie, LA, resident said his doctor recommended him for the study after conventional chemotherapy produced severe problems.

"I began to develop neuropathy and other side effects that were going to keep me from going much further with the chemotherapy," McCloskey said.

Although he no longer suffers from the nausea he experienced with chemotherapy, the new drug therapy does have its own side-effects -- most commonly, a skin rash.

However, McCloskey said the redness and itching on his hands are minor compared to what he went through with chemotherapy.

He also said it’s a small price to pay for going through what could eventually become a lifesaving technique for millions of people.

Anyone interested in obtaining more information about the study should contact START’s patient referral coordinator, Tracy Dufresne, at 210-593-5265.

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