Dec. 9, 2022

Could a targeted three-drug combination help prolong the lives of patients who have a deadly form of advanced lung cancer? The SPRING trial sought to answer that question, and the final results show promise.

Dr. Benjamin Solomon, an Avera Medical Group medical oncologist, is the first author on an international study published in Cancer Medicine, a peer-reviewed, open-access, interdisciplinary journal providing rapid publication of research from global biomedical researchers across the cancer sciences.

Solomon presented final study results at the international WIN 2022 Symposium: Integrating Genomics and Transcriptomics to Reshape Precision Oncology – A Winning Strategy, held in Barcelona, Spain.

SPRING stands for Survival Prolongation by Rationale Innovative Genomics. The trial’s drug protocol incorporates immunotherapy and two other targeted therapies. The SPRING trial came to Avera in 2018 through its membership in the Worldwide Innovative Network Consortium.

SPRING enrolled patients at five centers worldwide, with Avera enrolling one-third of the total number of patients.

The study explores the combination of avelumab, palbociclib and axitinib to treat advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. The study combined varied dosages of the triple combination with guidance of molecular medicine via genomic testing.

Overall, eight of 15 patients, or 53 percent, achieved clinical benefit. This included prolonged survival, with one patient who is doing well and is in remission with no detection of disease. The study also showed the combination of medications were tolerated reasonably.

“These patients all had advanced disease,” Solomon said. “As physicians who have cared for patients with advanced lung cancer are aware, it’s a very challenging disease to treat.”

One of the unique components of the study was weekly calls and international collaboration from numerous time zones and different perspectives on the management of these patients.

“This study and studies like it give us access to the most innovative treatments available, making Avera a destination for cancer care,” Solomon said. “This triple combination had never been done before. It is exciting and gratifying to see our patients at Avera benefiting from the same types of clinical trials available at major cancer centers in the U.S. and worldwide.”