Regional One Health is the only hospital in Shelby County offering a groundbreaking clinical trial for patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer.
The medication can help prevent recurrence by tricking cancer cells into attacking and killing themselves.
The trial allows Regional One Health Cancer Care to play a role in discovering new standards of care and helps patients access the advanced care they need.
Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic cancer diagnosis treated at Regional One Health, and the hospital is now the only place in Shelby County where eligible patients can access a new treatment option thanks to our growing clinical trials program.
John Schorge, MD, FACS, Chief of the OB/GYN Service at Regional One Health and Program Co-Leader for Clinical Research at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center Cancer Center, is currently enrolling patients in a trial for Selinexor, an oral medication that has shown promise for preventing recurrence of advanced or relapsed endometrial cancer.
It is the health care system’s first clinical trial in the gynecologic oncology field. Dr. Schorge said it is promising news both for Regional One Health Cancer Care’s status as an advanced oncology service and for patients who now have access to a groundbreaking treatment option.
“Historically, our patient population has been left out of clinical trials because they had difficulty accessing a medical center that offered these trials,” Dr. Schorge said. “With the partnership between Regional One Health Cancer Care and University of Tennessee Health Science Center, we are able to offer this option for patients right here in downtown Memphis.”
He noted it is especially important to make additional treatment options for endometrial cancer available in Memphis and the Mid-South. Black women are at a higher risk of a more aggressive form of endometrial cancer, and their survival rates are 20 percent lower.
Addressing disparities in health care access and outcomes was one of Dr. Schorge’s main goals when he joined Regional One Health in 2022.
“Historically, our patient population has had difficulty accessing a medical center that offered these trials,” Dr. Schorge said. “Now we are able to offer this option for patients right here in downtown Memphis.”
In 2023, he helped Regional One Health become a Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) site, which is the first step in being able to propose a clinical trial in the gynecologic oncology field. GOG is an organization that partners with health care providers to operate trials.
Along with the support from GOG, Dr. Schorge said leadership from Regional One Health Cancer Care medical oncologists Neil Hayes, MD and Saurin Chokshi, MD, along with Risa Ramsey from the UTHSC Clinical Trials Unit, has been key to establishing the resources needed for a robust clinical trials program.
Now the first gynecologic oncology trial, GOG-3083, is getting underway.
Dr. Schorge pre-screened the first patients in early August, and screening will remain open to additional patients until the trial reaches its capacity. To qualify, patients must have a diagnosis of advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer and their tumor must express a specific genetic component that is targeted by Selinexor.
Pre-screening results take about 4-6 weeks. After that, patients who qualify can enroll in the trial and start receiving treatment.
Previously, the standard treatment for advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer was to halt further treatment after standard chemotherapy. That left patients vulnerable to relapse.
Instead, Dr. Schorge now will have the option of using a weekly Selinexor pill. It works by turning on a tumor suppressor that tricks remaining cancer cells into attacking and killing themselves.
It can offer new hope for patients who might otherwise lack good treatment options.
Regional One Health is the only place in Shelby County offering the Selinexor trial, allowing patients access to an advanced new treatment.
“Typically, these are patients with Stage 4 cancer or whose cancer has returned,” Dr. Schorge explained. “They’re the patients who are most at risk of a poor prognosis, and that’s where these new treatments are the most important.”
“This is a ground-breaking medication,” he added. “There’s a lot of good science behind it, and it’s very promising. This is a Phase 3 trial, which is the final stage before seeking Food & Drug Administration approval. If we have positive results, the medication should be approved to become the new standard of care.”
That means the trial can benefit patients both at Regional One Health and elsewhere.
“We’re able to offer something to our patients in the Mid-South that previously didn’t exist. That is what sets a hospital like Regional One Health apart and elevates the profile of a growing oncology center like Regional One Health Cancer Care,” Dr. Schorge said. “It also has an impact beyond our patients, because this medication can benefit women with endometrial cancer everywhere.”
Dr. Schorge said he looks forward to helping patients through the Selinexor trial – and in many more trials to come.
“We hope this is the first of many opportunities to elevate care at Regional One Health,” he said. “It’s an exciting development in cancer care for our community. We can now provide advanced surgical expertise, traditional chemotherapy and immunotherapy, and access to new treatments via clinical trials. This is a key piece of distinguishing ourselves as a world-class cancer center.”