A clinical trial is a research study designed to evaluate a promising new medical treatment. It may involve a new way of preventing, diagnosing and/or treating cancer. Half or more of all Roswell Park patients are eligible to enroll in a clinical trial. Clinical trials may focus on:
- New ways of preventing cancer with drugs, diet and/or exercise
- New ways to better diagnose cancer
- New drugs to treat cancer
- New ways to use existing treatments, such as surgery or radiation therapy
- New ways to improve quality of life for patients with cancer
When the information from a clinical trial shows that the treatment being studied is more effective than standard treatments, the new treatment eventually becomes the new standard of care.
Through clinical trials, prostate cancer patients at Roswell Park were among the first to benefit from the immunotherapy drug pembolizumab (Keytruda), the PARP inhibitor rucaparib (Rubraca) and the triple therapy combination of (LHRH + AR targeted therapy + Docetaxel) before they were FDA approved.
Clinical trials for prostate cancer at Roswell Park
The robust clinical research program at Roswell Park provides patients with more options to maximize survival, reduce side effects and improve quality of life. Some of our current clinical trials involve:
- New compounds, agents and drug combinations to overcome treatment resistance in castration-resistant prostate cancer
- A new chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy
- Reducing or increasing the intensity of hormone therapy and radiation therapy depending on the patient’s gene risk score.
- Correlation between brain and pelvic floor muscle activity in effort to preserve urinary continence after surgery
- How nutrition and exercise interventions may reduce treatment-related obesity
- Use of a new drug combination before surgery to reduce cancer recurrence
Prostate cancer research and future treatments
As a cancer research powerhouse, Roswell Park places a strong emphasis on translational research — speeding new discoveries from the laboratory to the clinic to help patients as quickly as possible. Among our recent discoveries: