Exciting news! On August 7, 2008 The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) announced the new TrialCheck® service which was launched collaboratively with the Coalition of Cancer Cooperative Groups.
This is great for a couple of reasons.
First, we support clinical trials as being one of the most viable treatment options for blood cancer patients. Clinical trials have gotten a bad rap, but the truth is that participation in research studies provides patients with access to treatment that is at least as high quality as standard care. Many patients who are involved in clinical trials also say they are glad to have the opportunity to help other cancer patients.
Second, we're doing this because we're interested in making it as easy as possible to find cancer clinical trials near you. Clinical trials aren’t for everyone, but if you are interested in exploring this option it’s literally just a few keystrokes and clicks of the mouse to get to the information you need.
So how does it work?
Once you are on the TrialCheck® website, you will be prompted to fill out a short questionnaire. This will tell the system what clinical trials to display for you in the final search results.
Your results will be displayed after you click the “Show Results” button. If you choose to enter your zip code, the clinical trials that are closest to that zip code will display first, making it easy to find convenient options if distance is a concern for you.
You can also save your search results so you don't have to do the same search again; all you have to do is register. You can also email the results to others.
Not sure what a clinical trial is, or concerned it might not be for you? Visit our Clinical Trial Service webpage to learn more about the ins and outs of clinical trials.
Visit the TrialCheck® website today to find a clinical trial near you.
Have you participated in a clinical trial before? Is it something you would do again if you had to do it all over?
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Blog
3 Posts tagged with the clinical_trials tag
It’s easier to find clinical trials for blood cancer patients with TrialCheck®
Posted by millss Aug 12, 2008
The following is an excerpt from the May Research Commentary written by our Vice President of Research, Deborah Banker, Ph.D. You can read her future commentaries by subscribing to our monthly eNewsletters.
The Evolving Big Picture in Cancer Research
I recently attended the 2008 meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), where more than 14,000 of the world's top cancer investigators gathered in San Diego, CA to share groundbreaking new findings and ideas.
Many of the research themes that I have brought to your attention in previous commentaries were discussed in the opening plenary session, presented by eight distinguished biomedical researchers.
Carol W. Greider, Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University, talked about the ends of chromosomes called "telomeres." These protective caps normally get shorter each time a cell divides until they become so short that chromosomes deteriorate and aged cells die. Cancers can occur when the telomerase enzyme that elongates telomeres in young, healthy cells is reactivated in older cells, allowing these cells to divide beyond their normal lifespan. Dr. Greider discussed work showing that short telomeres limit tumor growth, suggesting that telomerase inhibitors might be useful targeted cancer treatments. Continued research in this area may lead to new treatments for blood cancer patients and for patients diagnosed with aplastic anemia and myelodysplastic syndrome.
Brian Druker, M.D., Oregon Health & Science University, finished this exciting session by talking about how to accelerate the pace of cancer drug development. It was Dr. Druker who developed the highly effective and safe targeted drug Gleevec®, for patients newly diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). LLS was a primary funder of this advance which was built on knowledge of the kinase molecule that causes CML. We now know that other kinases are involved in a wide range of cancers, including blood cancers beyond CML.
Using Gleevec as a paradigm, Dr. Druker talked about target identification (finding the cancer-causing abnormalities) and clinical trials as the two points at which drug development could be streamlined. He and his colleagues are using batteries of gene-inactivating miRNAs to learn which kinase(s) is most involved in particular cancer cases; they have already had some success predicting which kinase-targeting drug will work for an individual leukemia patient. Dr. Druker said that this individualized target information will also allow clinical trials to be done in the "right" patients so that effective drugs can be more readily validated.
LLS is funding research in the laboratories of Drs. Greider and Druker. You can find more details regarding the blood cancer research advances presented at this year's AACR meeting by visiting their Web site and by staying tuned right here.
-Deborah Banker, Ph.D.
