Tagged with “clinical trials”

Colorectal Cancer Briefs: PSA Contest,Medicare Co-Pays, NCI Bethesda Clinical Trials

Briefly

The Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada is sponsoring a contest for print and video ads that raise awareness of colorectal cancer.
Clinical trials at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD are an option for cutting-edge treatment at no cost.
When co-pays are raised for Medicare, the elderly make fewer outpatient visits but are hospitalized more often and stay in the hospital longer.

Posted by Kate Murphy on February 1st, 2010
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: clinical trials, co-pays, colorectal cancer awareness, Medicare

Stage III Cetuximab Trial Closed

It doesn’t help patients to add Erbitux to FOLFOX chemotherapy after surgery for stage III colon cancer a data monitoring committee for a clinical trial testing the new treatment has decided.

Because the analysis showed that patients were not benefiting from adding Erbitux to FOLFOX chemotherapy, the trial has been closed according to a news release from the National Cancer Institute. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on December 3rd, 2009
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: cetuximab, clinical trials, Erbitux

New Data on COIN

At the ECCO/ESMO meeting in Berlin the data on a large phase III clinical trial from the United Kingdom (COIN) was presented. It was a trial comparing FOLFOX or XELOX in combination with Erbitux.

It is important to know that in the UK Avastin is not approved, and Erbitux was only recently approved in patients with organ limited disease based on the chance of curative resections in patients initially deemed not to be resectable. However it is difficult to judge what the COIN results mean. The response rates in the patients with wild-type KRAS was significantly increased to 64%, so far so good. The problem is that the time to tumor progression and overall survival was not improved in patients with wild-type KRAS and Erbitux therapies. Continue reading…

Posted by Heinz-Josef Lenz, MD on October 19th, 2009
Posted in: From the Desk of Dr. Lenz | 2 Comments »
Tags: cetuximab, clinical trials, COIN, Erbitux

Oxford Conference Looks at Sensible Approach to Clinical Trials

Oxford University

Nancy Roach is the Founder of C3 and Chair of the Board of Directors.

On September 5 -6, I put on my sensible black shoes to attend the second Sensible Guidelines for the Conduct of Clinical Trials meeting at Oxford University in England. This invitation-only meeting convened research leaders to discuss how to improve large randomized clinical trials.

Why “Sensible Guidelines”?

People are the ‘experimental subjects’ of clinical research. Since World War II, laws and regulations have been passed to make sure that research participants are protected during the conduct of clinical trials. Over time – and especially in the last decade – many of the well-meaning laws and regulations have had an unintended consequence: bureaucracy that does not always protect or help patients, but does eat up resources. Patients in trials often see only the tip of the bureaucratic iceberg, while research staff, academic institutions, government agencies and drug companies struggle with the rest of it.

Posted by Nancy Roach on September 17th, 2009
Posted in: C3 News, Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: clinical trials

Trial of New Drug to Blocks Cell Changes Available at NIH Clinical Center

An oral drug that blocks activity of enzymes that change proteins in cells that leads to cancer is being tested at the National Institutes of Health.

R935788 or Fostamatinib, a protein kinase inhibitor, is in a Phase II clinical trial for patients with several types of advanced cancer, including colorectal cancer. Patients whose cancer has gotten worse on previous treatment are eligible to participate. The trial is being conducted at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Continue reading…

Posted by Kate Murphy on July 30th, 2009
Posted in: Research & Treatment News | No Comments »
Tags: clinical trials, fostamatinib, NIH Clinical Center