What are clinical trials?
Clinical trials are the final stages of cancer research that assess a potential new drug or therapy 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 treatment approaches currently used as standard of care were once studied in clinical trials.
Why it matters
Participating in a clinical trial is the only way to access the very latest options, oftentimes years before they become available to other providers. If you have cancer, you need the very best treatment today, not years from now.
Roswell Park participated in the development of the first oral hypomethylating drug for MDS, Ingovi (decitabine/cedazuridine). This medication produces identical blood drug levels compared with IV infusions of decitabine. Because it’s taken orally instead of IVs, it improves quality of life. Patients at Roswell Park had early access to this option through a clinical trial.
What options are available to MDS patients?
The robust research program at Roswell Park provides our patients with more ways to maximize their survival, including access to:
- Stem cell transplantation using cells from an unrelated donor with new treatment options for preventing graft versus host disease.
- A new combination and dosing of oral drugs for MDS drugs.
- New drugs that target CD47 in combination with the backbone standard chemotherapy drug (hypomethylating agent).
- Novel immune treatments for MDS including cellular therapies.
Available clinical trials
Roswell Park opens new clinical trials every day. Learn more about our clinical trials for MDS or call 1-800-ROSWELL (1-800-767-9355). Talk to your physician about upcoming trials not yet listed here that might be right for you.
In the pipeline
Our goal is to cure cancer. That’s why, in addition to seeing patients, all physicians on the MDS team conduct research aimed at finding ways to improve treatment. Ongoing research also helps us better understand how the disease works so we can develop new, targeted therapies for unique MDS subtypes.
Roswell Park maintains one of the first clinical research centers in the nation that focuses specifically on the development of new cancer treatments. Our Clinical Research Center (CRC) has enabled us to expand our program of phase I clinical trials, which represent the first step toward FDA approval of a new treatment. The CRC upholds the highest level of patient safety and quickly generates precise data on potential new treatments. As a result, Roswell Park’s MDS team can offer patients access to treatments that might not be available to them through other cancer care providers.