Innovative advances in cancer treatments may be available to you

Advances and innovations in the treatment of cancer have created a variety of new options for patients diagnosed with the disease. Immunotherapy and targeted therapy drugs, for instance, have added important options to the list of cancer treatments, and advanced genomic testing is giving doctors the opportunity to treat cancer on a cellular level for some patients.

During or after surgery, your doctors may recommend advanced genomic testing, which is used to examine the tumor on a cellular level to look for DNA alterations that may be driving the cancer’s growth. By identifying the mutations in a specific cancer cell’s genome, we may better understand what caused the tumor, how likely cancer recurrence is and whether chemotherapy is likely to benefit patients with early-stage hormone-sensitive breast cancer.

Clinical studies evaluate the safety and effectiveness of new approaches to treating cancer, either with new drug development, new technologies or by using existing treatments in new ways. New treatments often take years of study before they win regulatory approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). While the trials take their course, they often offer participating patients new options that may otherwise be unavailable to them, especially after exhausting conventional cancer treatments.

Some of these trials may study new chemotherapy drugs, surgical approaches or radiation therapy technologies. Others may explore whether a new or existing treatment works better in combination with others. One of the most exciting areas of cancer research focuses on precision treatment options. The new generation of precision drugs is generally designed to deliver more targeted, less toxic therapies. Typically, today’s precision-focused trials study new drugs that are not yet on the market, or new uses for existing drugs—to determine whether they can be used to treat additional cancer types, for example.

City of Hope offers clinical trials as part of our commitment to bringing our patients new and innovative cancer treatment options. The research team at City of Hope carefully identifies and studies new and emerging treatment options that are supported by strong clinical practices and scientific and investigational research. Our goal is to find those with the strongest likelihood of positively impacting our cancer patients, so we’re better able to offer new treatments options as soon as possible.

Our research team makes one of our medical centers a clinical trial site only after careful consideration of the relative benefit to our patients. Because every clinical research study is different, the eligibility criteria vary from trial to trial. Trial qualifications may limit enrollment to those with a particular type or subtype of cancer or a specific genomic mutation, or a particular age range or cancer stage. Many trials offer options for patients who have exhausted conventional treatment options or who are no longer responding to those treatments. Not every patient is a candidate for available clinical trials. Your City of Hope care team will work with you to determine whether you qualify for an existing trial and, if so, they’ll assist you in enrolling.