Nuvance Health To Run Advanced Cancer Clinical Trial In Norwalk

NORWALK, CT — Advanced-stage cancer patients at Nuvance Health hospitals in Danbury and Norwalk will participate in a new clinical trial aimed at treating people with certain forms of the disease, the health system announced on Thursday.

The Norwalk Hospital clinical trial is for patients with certain types of solid tumors, such as advanced colorectal cancer while the Danbury Hospital clinical trial will treat patients with advanced metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. The two hospitals are the only medical facilities in Fairfield County where the clinical trials will be run, according to the health system.

The clinical trials are studying a new drug called AMG 510, which studies have shown that blocks KRAS G12C, a variant of KRAS, which is a key enzyme in the growth of many cancers, according to a news release. A patient will know if their cancer has a KRAS G12C mutation after a tumor specimen undergoes genomic profiling.

Both hospitals are encouraging patients with this condition to contact the health system about the clinical trial. The New England Journal of Medicine recently published positive findings regarding Stage 1 trials involving AMG 510.

“Through the AMG 510 clinical trials, we can provide a new treatment for patients who otherwise might be out of options because of the advanced-stage of their cancer,” Dr. Richard Frank, director of clinical cancer research for Nuvance Health, medical oncologist/hematologist at Norwalk Hospital, and consultant in the gastrointestinal oncology service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, said in the news release.

Norwalk and Danbury hospitals are currently enrolling patients into the AMG 510 clinical trials. For more information, call or email Nuvance Health Oncology Research at 203-739-7997 or officeofclinicaltrials@nuvancehealth.org.