Astera Cancer Care Announces Its First Patient Treated With Cancer Fighting Natural Killer

East Brunswick, NJ, March 14, 2022- Astera Cancer Care, a New Jersey-based physician-owned, multi-specialty community oncology practice, announced it has treated its first patient with Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) Natural killer (NK) cells as part of the Quilt-88 trial. The CAR NK cells were administered as part of a combination of therapies designed to fight difficult to treat cancers. At present, patients with Pancreatic Cancer are being treated as part of the Quilt – 88 trial. In addition, other cancer types, including “triple-negative” Breast Cancer, certain types of Brain Cancer, and Merkel Cell Carcinoma, will be included in trials to be opened in the near future.

Oncologist – Hematologist Phillip Reid, MD, is the Principal Investigator for the Quilt – 88 trial at the Astera East Brunswick site.

“Astera Cancer Care is very excited to be able to offer the hope of CAR NK cell treatment to our patients,” said Dr. Reid. “The field of Oncology has been revolutionized over the past several years as we have learned to harness the power of the immune system in the fight against cancer. We hope that CAR NK cell therapies will become part of the immune therapy revolution and give patients an effective treatment option that is not associated with overly burdensome side effects.”

The Quilt – 88 trial is open to patients with Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer who have previously been treated with at least one anti-cancer therapy. Treatment is administered in Astera’s East Brunswick office, where a liquid nitrogen freezer is available to store the live CAR NK cells. Astera is the only site on the East Coast that offers this CAR NK cell therapy trial and only the 4th site nationwide.

Immunotherapy is designed to harness the body’s immune system to target, kill, and “remember” cancer cells so they can be stopped by the immune system long term. The agents in this trial are designed to find pancreatic cancer cells and initiate a significant immune response against them.

This may stimulate the body to develop its own antibodies and memory immune cells to fight the cancer even when active treatment is stopped. QUILT 88 trial is the third active cellular therapy trial Astera has participated in and the first CAR NK cell therapy. The other cell therapy trials included the use of CAR T cells (Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell ) to treat liquid cancers.

“Astera’s participation in this highly innovative trial continues to show our commitment to building a world-class Cellular Therapy Program as a prominent offering of our comprehensive community oncology platform. Our expertise, as one of the only community practices nationally to deliver CAR T cells, has prepared our organization to be a leader in all cellular therapies. Astera is broadening the scope of our offerings and is working with payers and self-funded employers to provide greater access to these treatments while controlling the escalating costs of all cancer treatments. Astera’s efforts will help to ensure that all patients living with cancer continue to have access to the most innovative therapies close to home,” said Edward J. Licitra, MD, PhD, Chairman and CEO, Astera Cancer Care.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most challenging cancers to treat, claiming 50,000 lives per year. Standard treatment options include surgery, conventional chemotherapy, and radiation.