Clinical Trials for Melanoma

What are clinical trials?

Clinical trials are the final stages of cancer research that assess a potential new drug, therapy or other approach that’s already been studied extensively in the laboratory. Trials are carefully monitored scientific studies that involve patients and offer the earliest access to these newest treatment options. Trials are conducted to determine a drug’s proper dose, how well it works and whether it’s more effective than current standard treatments. All drugs and treatments currently used as standard of care were once studied in clinical trials.

Why clinical trials matter

Participating in a clinical trial is the only way to access the very latest options, oftentimes years before they become available to other providers. All the targeted therapy and immunotherapy drugs that are now standard of care — such as pembrolizumab (Keytruda), nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) — were available to Roswell Park patients through clinical trials before becoming approved.

What options are there for melanoma patients?

The robust research program at Roswell Park provides our patients with more options to maximize their survival, including access to:

• Latest new agents. Roswell Park has clinical trials that offer new anti-cancer agents (potential new drugs) that have shown promise to stop cancer cells from growing and/or to maximize the effect of other types of drugs, such as immunotherapy.
• New options for advanced, inoperable melanoma.
• New surgical approaches such as limiting the size of the surgical margin (extra healthy tissue around the cancer that is removed) which impacts patient quality of life.
• New approaches that reduce the length of treatment or the doses to minimize side effects.