Advances in medicine and science are the results of new ideas and approaches developed through research. New cancer treatments must prove to be safe and effective in scientific studies with a certain number of patients before they can be made widely available.

Through clinical trials, researchers learn which approaches are more effective than others. This is the best way to test a new treatment. Today's standard treatments were first shown to be effective in clinical trials. Additional trials will help find new and better treatments.

• Clinical trials available through the Masonic Cancer Center

Am I a Candidate for a Clinical Trial?

Every clinical trial has different patient requirements. Consult your physician or oncologist to determine whether or not a clinical trial is right for you.

For more information, visit the following Web pages:

• Learning About Clinical Trials, National Cancer Institute (NCI). Includes links to NCI articles, including "Clinical Trials: Questions and Answers," "What is a Clinical Trial?," "Should I Take Part in a Clinical Trial?," and more.
• Coalition of National Cancer Cooperative Groups. Includes "Clinical Trials: What You Need to Know," "The Clinical Trial ABCs," profiles of all the patient advocacy organizations that are members of the Coalition, and a list of open trials offered by all member cooperative groups.
• National Cancer Institute clinical trial information for veterans

Feature Stories

Meeting of the minds
The sarcoma program at the Masonic Cancer Center is a collaboration of physicians, researchers, and their patients. Physican-researcher Denis Clohisy says, "As we gain real-life understanding of what's really happening to patients, we ask 'What improved approaches can we develop to better understand what causes the problem and stop it?'"

Clinical trial finds surgery followed by IV/IP therapy greatly improves survival for advanced ovarian cancer
Women with advanced ovarian cancer and physicians who treat them received important news in 2006. The National Cancer Institute, the Gynecologic Oncology Group, and five other medical societies and women's advocacy groups jointly recommended IV/IP therapy following surgical treatment of advanced ovarian cancer. Cancer Center member Linda Carson, M.D., was the principal investigator at the University of Minnesota for the national IV/IP therapy clinical trial.

Translating scientific discoveries into medical treatments
Skin and kidney cancer patients enrolled in clinical trials at the University of Minnesota fight recurrences of their cancers with material from their own tumor cells. "We're manipulating natural processes to activate killer cells and direct them toward the cancer," says Matthew Mescher, Ph.D., director of the U's Center for Immunology. And ultimately, he'd like to direct the power of these killer cells beyond individuals to target populations of patients.

Pioneering treatment for leukemia
Developing new and improving existing drug therapies to enhance the care of people with cancer is one of the primary goals of the Masonic Cancer Center. To be successful, this effort requires collaboration between laboratory scientists and clinical physician-researchers.

'I feel so lucky'
Donna Kuhlmann was diagnosed with melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. After two failed treatments, she was referred to the University of Minnesota where she participated in a clinical trial for an experimental vaccine conducted by a Cancer Center researcher.