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Consuelo Wilkins, MD, MSCI, Senior Vice President for Health Equity and Inclusive Excellence for Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and Senior Associate Dean for Health Equity and Inclusive Excellence for Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, always knew she wanted to be a physician. "Health equity was built into everything I did, even if I didn’t know it or recognize it at the time," Wilkins said. "I have always learned and believed that people are the same — everyone deserves to be healthy, and everyone should have the best opportunities to take care of themselves and their families." Click below to learn more about health equity initiatives.

https://momentum.vicc.org/2021/09/everyone-deserves-to-be-healthy/
Vanderbilt was the lead site for an NIH-funded, phase 2, multicenter influenza vaccine study in pediatric allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) recipients that may lead to a change in the current flu vaccine recommendations in this vulnerable population. Natasha Halasa, MD, MPH and colleagues recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, that two doses of high-dose trivalent flu vaccine resulted in higher amounts of influenza-specific antibodies than two doses of standard dose quadrivalent vaccine.

https://news.vumc.org/2023/03/02/high-dose-flu-vaccine-beneficial-for-pediatric-stem-cell-transplant-patients/

Displaying 1 - 3 of 3

A Study of LSTA1 When Added to Standard of Care Versus Standard of Care Alone in Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors

Multiple Cancer Types

The goal of this clinical trial is to test a new drug plus standard treatment compared with
standard treatment alone in patients with advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and
cholangiocarcinoma.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

- is the new drug plus standard treatment safe and tolerable

- is the new drug plus standard treatment more effective than standard treatment
Gastrointestinal, Head/Neck
II
Heumann, Thatcher
NCT05712356
VICC-DTMDT23185

Testing the use of Ado-Trastuzumab Emtansine Compared to the Usual Treatment (Chemotherapy with Docetaxel plus Trastuzumab) for Recurrent, Metastatic, or Unresectable HER2-Positive Salivary Gland Cancer

Head/Neck

This phase II trial compares the effect of usual treatment of docetaxel chemotherapy plus trastuzumab, to ado-emtansine (T-DM1) in patients with HER2-positive salivary gland cancer that has come back (recurrent), that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body, or cannot be removed by surgery (unresectable). Trastuzumab is a form of targeted therapy because it works by attaching itself to specific molecules (receptors) on the surface of cancer cells, known as HER2 receptors. When trastuzumab attaches to HER2 receptors, the signals that tell the cells to grow are blocked and the cancer cell may be marked for destruction by body's immune system. Trastuzumab emtansine contains trastuzumab, linked to a chemotherapy drug called emtansine. Trastuzumab attaches to HER2 positive cancer cells in a targeted way and delivers emtansine to kill them. Docetaxel is in a class of medications called taxanes. It stops cancer cells from growing and dividing and may kill them. Trastuzumab emtansine may work better compared to usual treatment of chemotherapy with docetaxel and trastuzumab in treating patients with recurrent, metastatic or unresectable salivary gland cancer.
Head/Neck
II
Choe, Jennifer
NCT05408845
NRGHN010

Testing What Happens When an Immunotherapy Drug (Pembrolizumab) is Given by Itself Compared to the Usual Treatment of Chemotherapy with Radiation after Surgery for Recurrent Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Head/Neck

This phase II trial studies the effect of pembrolizumab alone compared to the usual approach (chemotherapy [cisplatin and carboplatin] plus radiation therapy) after surgery in treating patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma that has come back (recurrent) or patients with a second head and neck cancer that is not from metastasis (primary). Radiation therapy uses high energy radiation or protons to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors. Cisplatin is in a class of medications known as platinum-containing compounds. It works by killing, stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells. Carboplatin is also in a class of medications known as platinum-containing compounds. It works in a way similar to the anticancer drug cisplatin, but may be better tolerated than cisplatin. Carboplatin works by killing, stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as pembrolizumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Giving pembrolizumab alone after surgery may work better than the usual approach in shrinking recurrent or primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
Head/Neck
II
Choe, Jennifer
NCT04671667
ECOGHNEA3191