By Lucia Turnes, Senior Clinical Research Associate
Clinical trials are increasingly becoming more complex, with stratification of treatment options based on presentation of disease. Patients have more treatment choices based on their lifestyle and comorbidities. The decision to take part in clinical trials is increasingly becoming democratized as patients are becoming better informed about clinical trials in general and the variety of treatment options. My attendance to this conference was to understand why patients would choose to take part in clinical trials such as SCOPE study where a novel vaccine SCIB1 or iSCIB1+ is given in combination with checkpoint inhibitors.
As oncology trialists we are very accustomed in collaborating with investigators, research nurses and their cross-functional teams however direct exposure to patients who are going through their treatment journeys is very limited. This conference enabled me to see matters from a patient's perspective.
Valuable insights from the meeting
Treatment for melanoma has come a very long way from a disease that was previously incurable when detected late to a disease that is manageable and even cured despite patients having advanced metastatic disease. Sponsors are developing treatments in all key stages of presentation of disease. Vaccines in general are gaining good momentum in both the early stages of presentation (V940-001 mRNA 4157 Merck & Moderna) and the late stages of presentation or stage migration where Scancell's SCIB1 and iSCIB1+ DNA vaccines are being tested. This is an interesting time for patients and sponsors of clinical trials as nucleic acid vaccines are being combined with checkpoint inhibitors with good early results.
Additionally, basic research on gut microbiome and immunotherapy was very interesting for patients, especially the correlation between antibiotic use and the impact of efficacy of checkpoint inhibitors. Going forwards this type of information will inform eligibility criteria for future studies with SCIB1 and iSCIB1+
Being a part of the story
As sponsor of clinical trials, it is important that we put patients first. Sponsoring this conference allows us as vaccine developers to understand the perspective of patients and incorporate the learnings into our clinical trial designs so that we get better acceptance and retention of patients in our current and future studies.
Future directions for Scancell
As we advance our study it would be prudent to consider ctDNA and also the ongoing research on microbiota to inform at the early stages on patients that are likely to respond quickly to treatment vs those that might respond later and also a subgroup of patients that might not derive a benefit from novel therapies.
Learn more about the SCOPE study