Avelumab With Valproic Acid in Virus-associated Cancer
Status:
Recruiting
Trial end date:
2027-02-26
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Up to 20% of all cancers may be associated with a bacterial or viral infection. In some
instances, the infection may be one of the reasons why the cancer developed in the first
place. One such example is infection with the human papilloma virus (HPV) and the development
of cervical or oral cavity cancer.
A viral infection that is chronic may not cause a person symptoms, and may be able to escape
detection by a person's own immune system. One of the medications being studied in this
clinical trial (Valproic acid) may be able to unmask a chronic viral infection from a
person's own immune system, therefore making the virus susceptible to attack by the immune
system. In this study Valproic acid is being combined with an immune therapy, Avelumab.
Avelumab is an antibody that targets a person's own immune cells, or lymphocytes. Lymphocytes
must be activated to fight infections or cancer, but after activation they are deactivated.
Avelumab prevents the deactivation of a lymphocyte, in effect "turning off the off-switch."
This leads to a re-energizing of a person's immune system, hopefully leading to an attack by
the immune system on a person's cancer.
Avelumab is known to be an effective treatment for a variety of cancers, although it has not
yet been tested in all cancers. By combining Valproic acid, a treatment which targets the
virus that contributed to the development of this type of cancer with Avelumab the
investigators hope to enhance the ability of Avelumab to restore the body's own immune
defense against the cancer.