Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian today announced that it met a key clinical trial milestone,  enrolling the first two patients in a clinical study evaluating “Natural Killer,” or NK, cell therapy in women with triple-negative breast cancer. Hoag is the first and only site in Orange County enrolling patients in the study.

The Study: The phase1/b2 open-label study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of a combination of chemo-immunotherapy with “Trodelvy,” a low dose chemotherapy, in combination with Culver City, Calif.-based ImmunityBio’s Anktiva receptor agonist, and NK cell therapy, a type of immunotherapy. Participants are triple-negative breast cancer patients who have at least two prior treatments for metastatic disease. Treatment will continue for up to one year.

Cell therapy involves modifying immune cells to recognize – and kill – cancer. Hoag is involved in a variety of cell therapy trials evaluating “natural killer,” or NK cell therapy, which has proven to be beneficial in treating solid tumors.