Dr. Shailender Bhatia to serve as the Principal Investigator for a new clinical trial

January 1, 2014

Bhatia MCC Clinical TrialDr. Shailender Bhatia will serve as the Principal Investigator for a new clinical trial of an immune stimulating agent, GLA-SE, for Merkel cell carcinoma patients who have recurrent or metastatic lesions that are injectable (in skin or possibly lymph nodes that are palpable). This represents the third new immune therapy trial launched in Seattle in the past 3 years (others were IL-12-electroporation and polyomavirus-specific adoptive T cell therapy). GLA-SE is an agonist (activator) of TLR4 signaling. This agent is being studied by Immune Design. The goal is to activate the patient’s immune system to attack the tumor.This agent is being studied by Immune Design. The goal is to activate the patient’s immune system to attack the tumor. This trial is supported by a grant from the Washington State Life Sciences Discovery Fund with support from the NIH/Seattle Cancer Consortium. The goal is to enroll 10 patients and the trial began in January 2014. Information about the trial is available here. In the photo, Dr. Shailender Bhatia is holding a vial of GLA-SE, a TLR4 agonist, during the Site Initiation Visit / Meeting for this trial in December 2013.