Results from a phase 3 clinical trial show that combining the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab with chemotherapy improved overall survival in previously untreated patients with certain types of non-small cell lung cancer. A second trial found that combining the immunotherapy drugs nivolumab and ipilimumab increased progression-free survival in a similar group of patients.
A small clinical trial demonstrated that taking the prostate cancer drug abiraterone with a low-fat breakfast allowed a lower dose to achieve similar biochemical results as taking the prescribed dose without food. The researchers suggest taking the medicine with food could reduce costs.
NCI has launched its National Clinical Trials Network (NTCN) Navigator, a new resource for researchers interested in using specimens and clinical data collected from large cancer clinical trials. The NCTN Navigator inventory includes data from more than 80 trials, 50,000 patients, and 600,000 specimens.
The Food and Drug Administration has expanded the approved uses for brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) in people with Hodgkin lymphoma. The approval was based on results from a phase 3 clinical trial called ECHELON-1.
Taking part in a cancer treatment clinical trial is a big decision. This page presents a list of questions you may want to ask your doctor before deciding to participate in a clinical trial.
NCI-Supported Clinical Trials that Are Recruiting Patients
This phase 1 trial is testing a combination of three cancer vaccines in patients with advanced solid tumors that have either not responded to previous therapy or for which no standard therapy exists. Each vaccine targets a different protein commonly found in many different types of cancer. Researchers think targeting all three proteins together instead of separately may produce better results.
This phase 1 trial will assess the safety and feasibility of giving genetically engineered T cells modified to recognize certain proteins commonly found on B-cell acute leukemia and lymphoma cells to patients between the ages of 3 and 30 whose cancer has not responded to or has recurred after previous treatment.
Patients in this multicenter open-label trial will receive a combination of cediranib and olaparib tablets. Doctors want to see the combination is safe and effective in women with ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer that has recurred after at least three prior courses of platinum-based chemotherapy and no known or suspected BRCA mutations.