Jhanelle Gray, MD, Clinical Accelerator Investigator Moffitt Cancer Center Area of Research: Lung Cancer Dr. Jhanelle Gray is the program co-leader of chemical, biology, and molecular medicine and the chair of the department of thoracic oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center. She is the study chair of the clinical trial “Phase 1/2 Study of Combination Immunotherapy and mRNA Vaccine in Subjects With NSCLC” (NCT03164772). This cancer immunotherapy trial studies various combinations of two checkpoint immunotherapies and an mRNA-based vaccine in patients with the most common form of lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Lung cancer impacts 2.1 million individuals and causes an estimated 1.7 million deaths worldwide, with NSCLC comprising approximately 85 – 90% of all cases. The United States reported an estimated 230,000 new lung cancer cases and 150,000 deaths in 2018 alone. When most lung cancer patients become symptomatic and are diagnosed, the disease has already advanced to a stage where surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation are only minimally effective. Checkpoint inhibitors that will be studied in this trial include durvalumab (Imfinzi™), which blocks the PD-L1 pathway, and tremelimumab, which blocks the CTLA-4 pathway. The mRNA vaccine (CV9202 Curevac) is designed to prime the immune system against several lung cancer-associated targets. Additional investigators working on this study include: Hirva Mamdani, MD, Karmanos Cancer Institute Jiaxin Niu, MD, Banner MD Anderson Jonathan Thompson, MD, Medical College of Wisconsin Joshua Sabari, MD, NYU Langone Projects and Grants Phase 1/2 Study of Combination Immunotherapy and mRNA Vaccine in Subjects With NSCLC (NCT03164772) Moffitt Cancer Center | Lung Cancer | 2015
