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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/ |
Hormonal Therapy after Pertuzumab and Trastuzumab for the Treatment of Hormone Receptor Positive, HER2 Positive Breast Cancer, the ADEPT study
Breast
Breast
This phase II trial studies the effect of hormonal therapy given after (adjuvant) combination pertuzumab/trastuzumab in treating patients with hormone receptor positive, HER2 positive breast cancer. The drugs trastuzumab and pertuzumab are both monoclonal antibodies, which are disease-fighting proteins made by cloned immune cells. Estrogen can cause the growth of breast cancer cells. Hormonal therapy, such as letrozole, anastrozole, exemestane, and tamoxifen, block the use of estrogen by the tumor cells. Giving hormonal therapy after pertuzumab and trastuzumab may kill any remaining tumor cells in patients with breast cancer.
Breast
II
Abramson, Vandana
NCT04569747
VICCBRE2243
Testing the Effect of Decreasing Chemotherapy in Patients with HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Without Evidence of Remaining Cancer after Receiving Pre-Surgery Chemotherapy and HER2-Targeted Therapy
Breast
Breast
This clinical trial studies how well paclitaxel, trastuzumab, and pertuzumab work in eliminating further chemotherapy after surgery in patients with HER2-positive stage II-IIIa breast cancer who have no cancer remaining at surgery (either in the breast or underarm lymph nodes) after pre-operative chemotherapy and HER2-targeted therapy. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as paclitaxel, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Trastuzumab is a form of targeted therapy because it works by attaching itself to specific molecules (receptors) on the surface of tumor cells, known as HER2 receptors. When trastuzumab attaches to HER2 receptors, the signals that tell the cells to grow are blocked and the tumor cell may be marked for destruction by the bodys immune system. Pertuzumab is a monoclonal antibody that may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Giving paclitaxel, trastuzumab, and pertuzumab may enable fewer chemotherapy drugs to be given without compromising patient outcomes compared to the usual treatment.
Breast
II
Abramson, Vandana
NCT04266249
ECOGBREEA1181