Clinical Trials
Clinical trials are research studies designed to find better cancer treatments based on the most updated information from around the country. Clinical trials are especially important if you have kidney cancer that has spread to other organs (metastasized). Clinical trials offer you the widest array of treatment options, including new drugs and drug combinations that are still under research.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, along with Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC), conducts pivotal trials that have led to FDA approval for therapies for metastatic kidney cancer and melanoma (skin cancer).
We are exploring new treatments and novel agents added to existing treatments. We are also studying how to improve the selection criteria for systemic therapy (affecting the entire body) in order to enhance patient outcomes.
Why Clinical Trials are Vitally Important
Unfortunately, only a small percentage of people diagnosed with kidney cancer in this country agree to participate in clinical trials, and too often as a last resort when treatment is no longer working. By then it may be too late to qualify for newer, more promising therapies.
It is vitally important, and potentially life-prolonging, for you to talk with your doctor about clinical trials when you are first diagnosed with kidney cancer, and before you start treatment. Ask if you qualify for clinical trials studying new and possibly more effective ways to combat kidney cancer.
For More Information
To enroll in or find out more information about a clinical trial, ask your primary care physician to contact the Kidney Tumor Program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at 617-632-9250.
You can also call our program directly to learn more about advanced renal cancer clinical trials at BIDMC. Please ask our doctors for the most up-to-date information about clinical trials that might apply for you.
