Charalambos Andreadis, MD
University of California, San Francisco

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the blood and can be fatal within weeks if untreated.  The standard treatment is a chemotherapeutic drug called cytarbine.  This study is evaluating patients who initially responded to cytarbine but then experienced a relapse.

Monoclonal antibodies inhibit certain cancer cells by blocking chemical receptor sites on their surface. Cancer cells do not thrive if they do not receive the chemical signals to grow. 

Dr. Anderadis and his team hope to determine if adding a monoclonal antibody called ficlatzumab to the cytarabine regimen improves the survival rate for AML. They will also determine the optimal dose amounts. [Awarded 2014]

 

Clinical Summary
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a disease characterized by rapid, uncontrolled proliferation of malignant cells leading to impaired production of normal hematopoietic elements, which results in systemic manifestations including anemia, neutropenia, and thrombocytopenia. If left untreated AML is fatal within weeks. This study will investigate if ficlatuzumab when combined with cytarabine, the standard treatment for AML, is safe to give to patients and what the best dose is. Ficlatuzumab is a monoclonal antibody that mimics the antibodies naturally produced in the immune system. It blocks chemicals in the body from attaching to the surface of cancer cells that signal them to grow. It is this teams hope that this study with translate into higher rates of clinical response and an eventual cure in patients with relapsed or refractory disease.