Figure 1. Radiologic Images of the Patient’s Liver and Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase (PI3K) Expression in the Patient’s Tumor Cells.
Metastatic Merkel-cell carcinoma is often fatal and there is no effective treatment. Now a researcher is reporting some positive results from treating this illness with a drug called idelalisib. Gao’s 86-year-old female patient was diagnosed in 2013 with stage IIIB Merkel-cell carcinoma of the right temple. She had surgery and received radiation therapy in May 2013 and additional surgery in Jul 2014. In Nov 2014 the cancer had metastasized.
Gao, a dermatologist who treats Merkel-cell carcinoma patients from Arkansas and surrounding states, performed genetics tests on the tumor that revealed multiple mutations, including PI3Kδ. Gao was aware that the drug idelalisib is a novel PI3K pathway inhibitor approved for treatment of B-cell lymphoma. She was also aware of recent studies showing that disruption of the PI3Kδ mutation allows the body to mount an effective antitumor immune response.
On the basis of her laboratory work and knowledge of idelalisb, Gao began treatment of the patient with the drug on Feb. 6, 2015. 3 months after administering the idelalisib, there was no sign of the tumor in the patient’s liver. Based on what she’s learned, Gao said the case can be made for further study of PI3Kδ inhibitors like idelalisib in solid tumors, not just blood cancers. “The efficacy of idelalisib in our patient provides initial clinical evidence that the targeting of PI3Kδ in Merkel-cell carcinoma is warranted,” Gao said. http://uamshealth.com/news/2015/10/15/cancer-researcher-published-in-new-england-journal-of-medicine/
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