The MUHC Authorizes an AstraZeneca Study on Metastatic Lung Cancer in 8 Weeks and Recruits the First Patient in the World
With the support of the FAST TRACK Evaluation Service coordinated by CATALIS Quebec, the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) was able to obtain authorization in 8 weeks for the ARTEMIDE-Lung03 study conducted by AstraZeneca, and was able to activate the site in 10.8 weeks, making it the second site activated in the world. The team, led by the MUHC’s Dr. Scott Owen, also recruited the first patient worldwide for this phase III study on metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
“AstraZeneca is proud to partner with CATALIS to expand and accelerate clinical research in Quebec. By using the CATALIS FAST TRACK Evaluation Service, we were able to launch the ARTEMIDE-Lung03 study in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in just 10.8 weeks. In collaboration with the McGill University Health Centre, we also successfully randomized the first global patient for this expansive phase III study. This is a great collaboration among AstraZeneca, CATALIS, researchers, and healthcare organizations and emphasizes our commitment to advancing rapid access to innovative treatments and improving patient outcomes.”
– Gaby Bourbara, President, AstraZeneca Canada
The MUHC Is Committed to Offering the Most Innovative Treatments to Its Cancer Patients
Dr. Scott Owen, a medical oncologist at the MUHC, is committed to providing cancer patients with access to cutting-edge treatments. He works to facilitate access to innovative clinical trials to explore new treatment options, in the hope of improving the care they receive. He and his team benefit from the innovative cancer research program of the Research Institute of the MUHC (The Institute), which integrates basic, clinical, and evaluative research into cutting-edge technology platforms. These initiatives focus on personalized medicine and understanding cancer’s mechanisms.
“CATALIS’ FAST TRACK Evaluation Service gives Quebec patients access to the most innovative therapies in the shortest possible time. We firmly believe that our collaborative efforts will continue to produce positive results for patients across the province.”
– Angela Genge MD, FRCP, Director of Clinical Research and the Centre for Innovative Medicine at The Institute
“Lung cancer continues to be the number one cancer killer worldwide and in Canada, and most patients are diagnosed with advanced, metastatic disease. Although there have been great strides in therapies that help to improve survival and quality of life for patients with this disease, much more still needs to be done. ARTEMIDE-lung 03 and ARTEMID-lung 02 areis a phase 3 trials that aim to demonstrate improved survival by combining two ways to prevent cancer from evading our body’s immune system (anti-PDL1 and anti-TIGIT activity). The MUHC is proud to be able to offer theseis studiesy to patients and to boast the second patient worldwide recruited to ARTEMIDE-lung 03.”
– Scott Owen MD, Investigator, The Institute, Assistant Professor, Gerald Bronfman Department of Oncology, McGill University
Experimental Dual-Acting Immunotherapy to Improve Anti-Tumour Efficacy Against Metastatic NSCLC
AstraZeneca’s ARTEMIDE-Lung03 study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy as a potential first-line treatment. The study targets patients with metastatic NSCLC whose tumours contain the PD-L1 protein, which indicates that the cancer cells are protecting themselves from the immune system’s response.
Half of all lung cancers are already metastatic at diagnosis, meaning they have spread to other parts of the body¹, with afflicted patients generally receiving immunotherapy in addition to chemotherapy. Chemotherapy reduces the size of the tumour and makes cancer cells more visible to the immune system, which can then attack them more effectively, and immunotherapy strengthens this response by stimulating the immune system. The most commonly used immunotherapies are checkpoint inhibitors: they target and block a checkpoint found on the surface of cancer cells, such as the PD-L1 protein, which prevents the immune system from detecting and destroying them.
The ARTEMIDE-Lung03 study goes one step further by testing immunotherapy that simultaneously targets two checkpoints, PD-L1 and TIGIT. The aim is to increase anti-tumour efficacy compared to pembrolizumab, an immunotherapy already used to target PD-L1 alone. Clinical research on lung cancer offers the hope of a more effective treatment for Quebecers, as it is the cancer with one of the highest incidence and mortality rates in Canada². The AstraZeneca study plans to recruit 878 patients worldwide, including 4 in Quebec.
Are you interested in participating in this clinical trial or other lung cancer studies? We offer a free Personalized Support Service to help guide you in your search for clinical trials. You can also access Clinical Trials Quebec’s information and services hub. This site contains easy-to-understand educational content, graphics, and free tools which will help you to better understand clinical research and what happens during a clinical trial. Information on AstraZeneca’s ARTEMIDE-Lung03 clinical study is available through the Quebec’s Public Clinical Trials Database on Clinical Trials Quebec, and the clinicaltrials.gov website.
The CATALIS Network Is Committed to Patients Through Its FAST TRACK Evaluation Service
Thanks to the commitment of healthcare institutions such as the MUHC and pharmaceutical companies such as AstraZeneca, CATALIS and its Network of Partners are delighted to stimulate innovation in clinical research and reduce clinical trials’ authorization times by nearly 75%, with the goal of accelerating the development of innovative treatments that improve the lives of patients in Quebec.
CATALIS would like to thank all its public and private partners for their trust, their participation in developing innovative clinical research approval methods, and their commitment to implementing accelerated clinical trials in their institutions.
If you would like more information about the FAST TRACK Evaluation Service, please write to us at: info@catalisquebec.com.
¹Gouvernement du Québec (2021). Lung Cancer. Available at: https://www.quebec.ca/en/health/health-issues/cancer/lung-cancer
²Canadian Cancer Society (2020). Canadian Cancer Statistics – A 2020 Special Report on Lung Cancer. Toronto (ON). Available at https://cancer.ca/en/research/cancer-statistics/canadian-cancer-statistics.
