CLINICAL CANCER TRIALS AT WEILL CORNELL

Clinical cancer research is the heart of the mission of the Cancer Research & Treatment Fund.

As a service to health professionals and the lay public alike, CR&T here provides brief summaries of the more than 100 experimental cancer protocols currently being carried out by physicians associated with CR&T and by their colleagues in the Department of Medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

Unless otherwise indicated, these experimental trials are currently recruiting patients. Studies closed to accrual are also included, since follow-up trials open to accrual may be in the planning stage at Weill Cornell or may be in progress at other medical centers.

Virtually all the active cancer protocols at Weill Cornell are being carried out concurrently at various other medical centers across the country. The great majority of the trials here are sponsored either by the federal government (through the National Cancer Institute or its Cancer and Leukemia Group B) or by pharmaceutical corporations.

Trials are categorized by phase, which indicates how far an experimental drug or treatment has progressed.

In phase-I trials, researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people (20-80) for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects. The dosage may start out low and then go higher.
 
In phase-II trials, the study drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people (100-300) to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.

In phase-III trials, the study drug or treatment is given to large groups of people (1,000-3,000) to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.

As a perusal of the studies described below quickly makes evident, a wide variety of agents and treatments is being tested at Weill Cornell. Experimental agents include 1) chemotherapeutic drugs that interfere with basic cellular processes; 2) new molecule-targeting drugs, such as Gleevec, which home in specifically on aberrant proteins or genes that make cells cancerous; 3) monoclonal antibodies or other biological agents that do the same; and 4) treatments that stimulate the bodyís immune system to attack cancers.

Extensive information on clinical cancer trials can be found at the National Cancer Instituteís web site, www.nci.nih.gov/clinicaltrials.

Further information on specific trials described below can be obtained through Mr. Allen Dickstein at the Weill Cornell Department of Medicine, 212-746-1848.

Trials are grouped as follows: