More than 14 million Americans have cancer. At any given time, there are literally thousands of cancer clinical trials available. These studies are most often at or near large medical centers or universities. Many ongoing trials are unable to find enough participants. If the studies testing new treatments aren’t completed we all lose--new treatments don’t become available to the people they might help. How can this happen?
The facts
·
The pharmaceutical
companies are interested in testing, proving, and marketing new treatments.
Their mission and business success depends on successful development of new
drugs. They want the medication to work.
·
The hospitals
and doctors want the drugs to be effective so they can help patients. They
are responsible for conducting trials of new drugs under strict controls to
safeguard patients and to determine the effectiveness and safety of the drugs
and treatments. They want the medication to work.
·
You
are interested in managing or curing your cancer. You want a treatment or drug
without nasty side effects that is going to manage your cancer, lengthen your
life, improve your quality of life, and allow you to live happily ever after.
You want the medication to work.
There are more than
6,500 cancer clinical trials available at any one time. For more common
cancers, there may literally be hundreds of studies underway at the same time.
This is good news. When there are many studies, that means there are
many new ideas on how we might improve treatment and find cures. But for you,
it can make navigating this a jungle and getting usable information a
formidable challenge.
Start close to home
A conversation with your own doctor
is always the best place to start. Tell your doctor that you are interested in
experimental therapies. Your doctor or hospital may, in fact, be offering some
clinical trials or may be aware of nearby programs that offer clinical trials
for patients with your needs and interests. Even if you end up doing most of
the research on your own, your doctor will be a key source of support and
information. At a minimum, your doctor will need to share information about you
and your cancer with those conducting the clinical trial. You will certainly
want the support of your doctor and medical team.
Know your disease state: stage, prior, and current treatments
Before you begin
searching, you need to know several key pieces of information about your cancer
and treatments you’ve had so far. The more you know, the more quickly you’ll be
able to narrow your search to what you want and not waste valuable time. Ask questions.
Each clinical trial is
carefully designed for specific groups of patients. For example, phase I
studies of brand new drugs are typically looking for patients with advanced
cancer that has spread (metastasized) and is not responsive to standard
treatments. Since we don’t know very much about how successful these new drugs
might turn out to be, proven standard treatments should be tried first. But if
nothing else is available, and you don’t have a proven standard treatment to
fall-back on, a phase I trial is a reasonable direction to go.
Many trials focus on
treatments for advanced cancers, but there are also trials for patients with
earlier stage cancer. For example, trials of adjuvant treatment are testing cancer treatment that is
administered shortly after the primary surgery or radiation in the hope of
reducing the risk of disease relapse or recurrence. Some patients may be
cancer-free after initial treatment but their particular cancer had
characteristics that suggest a high risk of relapse. They may be interested in
and eligible for such studies. Patients who are candidates for standard therapy
(at any point in the course of the disease) may want to try clinical trials
that are examining new approaches that hope to improve on the standard
treatment outcomes.
Clinical trials are
available for patients at all stages of cancer and with a broad range of prior
treatments but the studies for one stage or situation will probably not be the
same as those for another. Knowing your stage and treatment history is absolutely
necessary before you can sift through all the possible trials to identify those
of relevance and interest to you.
Next? See Part 2 in a few weeks
To put a smile on your face see Larry's latest cartoon.
To learn more about clinical trials, take a look at our book.
(c) 2012 Tom Beer and Larry Axmaker
