Publications by authors named "Megan Grudem"
Purpose: AB160 is a 160-nm nano-immunoconjugate consisting of nab-paclitaxel (ABX) nanoparticles noncovalently coated with bevacizumab (BEV) for targeted delivery into tissues expressing high levels of VEGF. Preclinical data showed that AB160 resulted in greater tumor targeting and tumor inhibition compared with sequential treatment with ABX then BEV. Given individual drug activity, we investigated the safety and toxicity of AB160 in patients with gynecologic cancers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMegan Grudem, APRN, CNP, and Andrea Wahner Hendrickson, MD, reviewed the potential role of PARP inhibition in various malignancies, how to select patients who are appropriate candidates, and guidance on devising treatment plans that include PARP inhibitors for patients with ovarian or breast cancer based on genetic profiles, tolerability, dosing schedules, and other key factors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn ovarian cancer (OC), IL-17-producing T cells (Th17s) predict improved survival, whereas regulatory T cells predict poorer survival. We previously developed a vaccine whereby patient-derived dendritic cells (DCs) are programmed to induce Th17 responses to the OC antigen folate receptor alpha (FRα). Here we report the results of a single-arm open-label phase I clinical trial designed to determine vaccine safety and tolerability (primary outcomes) and recurrence-free survival (secondary outcome).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Seventy percentage of patients who receive paclitaxel have diffuse, refractory myalgias, and arthralgias. Based on anecdotal reports, this study explored whether loratadine, an antihistamine, palliates these symptoms.
Methods: The medical records of postoperative ovarian and patients with endometrial cancer were studied, as these patients are routinely prescribed paclitaxel.
Background:: Paclitaxel-treated patients can suffer from years of peripheral neuropathy with pain, numbness, and tingling. Promising preclinical data with poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors led us to explore this class of agents to palliate this neuropathy.
Methods:: We relied on a completed trial that tested the antineoplastic effects of veliparib (NCT01012817).
Objective: A growing number of cancer antineoplastic agents can cause life-threatening acute infusion reactions. Because previous studies have not studied these reactions from the perspective of patients, this study was undertaken with that objective in mind.
Methods: Patients who had an acute infusion reaction were interviewed based on the Leventhal model.
Purpose: Paclitaxel causes the paclitaxel-induced acute pain (PIAP) syndrome. Based on preclinical data, we hypothesized that the protein kinase C (PKC) iota inhibitor, auranofin (a gold salt used for other pain conditions), palliates this pain.
Methods: In a randomized, double-blinded manner, patients who had suffered this syndrome were assigned a one-time dose of auranofin 6 mg orally on day #2 of the chemotherapy cycle (post-paclitaxel) versus placebo.
Purpose: This trial was undertaken (1) to determine the feasibility of enrolling asymptomatic ovarian cancer patients with CA-125 elevation in a trial with the protein kinase C iota (PKCι) inhibitor auranofin and (2) to understand patients' perceptions of CA-125 monitoring.
Methods: Asymptomatic ovarian cancer patients with CA-125 elevation received 3 mg auranofin orally twice per day and were evaluated. The patients participated in interviews about CA-125 monitoring.
Purpose: Hydronephrosis is a frequently observed but understudied complication in patients with cervical cancer. To better characterize hydronephrosis in cervical cancer patients, the current study sought (1) to describe hydronephrosis-associated morbidity and (2) to analyze the prognostic effect of hydronephrosis in patients with a broad range of cancer stages over time.
Methods: The Mayo Clinic Tumor Registry was interrogated for all invasive cervical cancer patients seen at the Mayo Clinic from 2008 through 2013 in Rochester, Minnesota; these patients' medical records were then reviewed in detail.