Skip to content

National Coalition for Cancer Research Briefing: "Today’s Cancer Clinical Trials. Tomorrow’s Cures."

National Coalition for Cancer Research Briefing: "Today’s Cancer Clinical Trials. Tomorrow’s Cures."

Today’s Cancer Clinical Trials. Tomorrow’s Cures.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

12:00 – 1:30 pm

122 Cannon House Office Building

RSVP to nccrcoalition@gmail.com

With hundreds of new cancer therapies in various stages of clinical development, this is one of the most promising and exciting times in clinical cancer research history.  Today, through clinical trials, effective therapies are being developed that are also more targeted and less toxic, causing fewer immediate and long-term side-effects for patients.  For decades, clinical trials were aimed at treating cancers that were categorized into types based on the size and appearance of malignant cells seen under a microscope.  Whereas, today, cancer clinical trials are focusing on  genomics, screening for molecular features that may predict response or resistance to a drug, molecular imaging, studies of genetic factors that may predict drug toxicity, and harnessing the body’s own immune system to fight tumor cells.

These tremendous advances and opportunities in clinical cancer research also raise important public policy questions:

  • What are cancer clinical trials, who conducts them, how do they lead to improved outcomes for cancer patients and how are they different from clinical trials for other diseases?
  • How have cancer clinical trials evolved in recent years?
  • What new areas of clinical cancer research are on the horizon?
  • What is it like to be a patient who is participating in a cancer clinical trial?
  • What can be done to ensure that the United States maintains its preeminent position as the world leader in medical advances?

To learn more about these and other issues regarding the promise of cancer clinical trials, we cordially invite you to attend this important briefing.