FEATURED TRIAL: ALCHEMIST
Adjuvant Lung Cancer Enrichment Marker Identification and Sequencing Trials

The Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, in conjunction with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group, have launched the Adjuvant Lung Cancer Enrichment Marker Identification and Sequencing Trials, or ALCHEMIST – three trials to identify patients with early-stage lung cancer who have tumors that contain uncommon genetic changes and evaluate whether drug treatments aimed at those changes can improve their survival. As lead network group, the Alliance will coordinate two of the three trials, including the ALCHEMIST screening trial and the adjuvant treatment trial for patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations. All of the NCI-supported National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) groups are participating in the trials. 

The three trials of ALCHEMIST are:
ALCHEMIST - Screening component (A151216)
Coordinated by the Alliance
Principal Investigatos: Geoffrey Oxnard, MD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/NCT02194738

ALCHEMIST - EGFR Treatment component (A081105)
Coordinated by the Alliance
Principal Investigator: Ramaswamy Govindan, MD, Washington University
http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/NCT02193282

ALCHEMIST - ALK Treatment component (E4512)
Coordinated by ECOG-ACRIN
Principal Investigator: David Gerber, MD, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/NCT02201992

Participants enrolled in ALCHEMIST need to have been diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma or other types of non-squamous, non-small cell lung cancer (or NSCLC), and must be planning to undergo surgery or have already undergone surgical removal of their tumors.

LEARN MORE ABOUT ALCHEMIST
> General Questions: visit http://www.cancer.gov/newscenter/newsfromnci/2014/ALCHEMISTlaunchQandA and http://www.cancer.gov/?cid=EBalchemistalliance_hp
> Alliance News Release
> NCI Press Release
> For NCTN Members:  visit the NCI Cancer Trials Support Unit (CTSU) website at http://www.ctsu.org and view ALCHEMIST slide deck

ALCHEMIST involves significant collaborations with biotechnology and pharmaceutical partners as well. Central laboratory testing for EGFR gene mutations and for the ALK gene rearrangement will be performed by Response Genetics, Inc., Los Angeles. For the ALCHEMIST treatment trials, Pfizer, New York City, will be providing crizotinib under a Clinical Trials Agreement with the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group and Astellas Pharma US, Inc., Northbrook, Illinois, will be providing erlotinib under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with NCI for the clinical development of erlotinib.