It takes a lot of research to develop a new drug treatment, including those in oncology. Clinical trials are done in several steps, also called “phases.” Each phase has a specific purpose. The phases are designed to answer certain questions about the investigational drug being tested while aiming to keep the patients in each trial as safe as possible.
The DDR is a complex network of surveillance and signaling in the cell that works to keep the DNA (genetic material) intact. It senses DNA damage, activates proteins that repair DNA, and assembles repair machinery. It also stops the cell’s life cycle to allow enough time for DNA damage to be repaired or causes the cell to die if DNA damage cannot be repaired. The most studied proteins involved in the DDR processes are ATM protein kinase, ATR protein kinase, DNA-PK, and PARP1. These proteins help keep cells alive, so by stopping the action of these proteins, it may be possible to stop the cancer from growing and dividing.
A mechanism of every organism to maintain and accurately transmit genetic material from generation to generation or from one cell to another.
Cancer that forms in tissues of the lung, usually in the cells lining air passages.
An inactive substance or drug that looks the same and is given the same way as an active drug or treatment being tested. The effects of the active drug or treatment are compared with the effects of the placebo.
The return of a disease or the symptoms of a disease after a period of improvement.
An abnormal mass of tissue, excluding those derived from blood-generating tissues. Although solid tumors may not be cancerous (malignant), in DDRiver™ studies, only malignant cancerous solid tumors are included. Different types of solid tumors are named for the type of cells that form them. The DDRiver™ clinical trials are not designed to assess tumors occurring only in a specific part of the body.
Cancer that cannot be removed by surgery.