Mercy Cancer Services
Clinical Trials in Our Own Backyard
When an Oklahoman is diagnosed with cancer, all too
often the patient, friends and family turn to health care organizations
outside the state – be it M.D. Anderson or Mayo Clinic. For the latest
clinical trials and treatments, Oklahomans drive south or north or any
other direction but home. And while not well known, the beeline to some
of the best and latest clinical trials and treatments leads directly
home.
“We have numerous cancer clinical trials in
Oklahoma,” says Vikki A. Canfield, M.D., a medical oncologist with
Cancer Care Associates. “Oklahomans don’t have to drive to M.D. Anderson
or Mayo. We have trials for every kind of cancer right here.” Not only
are there a multitude of clinical trials for cancer currently underway
in Oklahoma, Oklahoma has the potential to be one of the best states in
the nation in the percentage of patients participating in clinical
trials.
As it is, only about 3 percent of adult cancer
patients nationally participate in clinical trials. With an Oklahoma
Cancer Consortium – an all inclusive group currently forming thanks to
the efforts of OU Cancer Institute and Cancer Care Associates – Dr.
Canfield sees Oklahoma becoming a state with 10 to 20 percent of adult
cancer patients taking part in trials.
“We don’t have a competing academic university here
in Oklahoma and Oklahomans are less territorial when it comes to the
greater good,” says Dr. Canfield. Because in the end, clinical trials
improve patient care and quality of life.
“Almost all of the clinical advances in oncology
have come about because of trials,” says Dr. Canfield. “In order to find
cures, we have to increase the enrollment in trials. There is nothing
more heartbreaking than going to a meeting and hearing of a trial that
has been completed and a patient comes to mind that is no longer with us
who could have benefited from it. You simultaneously feel hopeful that a
new option is available, but extremely sad for the patient who could
have benefited if the trial had been completed sooner.”
There are various reasons why patients don’t join a
clinical trial, including the fact that they aren’t aware of a trial’s
availability, they don’t want to be used as a human guinea pig or they
don’t think they can afford to take part.
“But the reality is that with clinical trials,
patients have access to some of the newest and most effective drugs and
treatments which are otherwise not available to them,” says Dr.
Canfield. And as far as availability and affordability, the Oklahoma
Cancer Consortium plans to make that much easier.
As a 501C3, the group plans to remain independent
and transparent, allowing medical oncologists and other physicians
around the state to join and take part in the Oklahoma network.
The statewide research partnership will eventually
provide a database for all clinical cancer trials available in Oklahoma
(of which there is no current central database). Both patients and
physicians will have a way to find out about current trials available.
“By joining together, we will be able to increase
the availability of cancer trials and the number of trials in the
state,” she says. “It will also make it more feasible for private
practices and smaller groups who aren’t staffed for research to access a
consortium research nurse. It means a doctor in Lawton or anywhere else
could take part in clinical trials.”
Most clinical trials are available through the
National Cancer Institute or pharmaceutical companies, and undergo
rigorous scrutiny by institutional review boards. In addition, trials
are usually covered through insurance, by certain state laws or the
companies conducting the research.
“There are so many exciting treatments on the
horizon thanks to clinical trials,” says Dr. Canfield. “Not only do
clinical trials improve survival rates, they also contribute to lower
cancer recurrence rates, new treatment approaches for cancers that have
no effective therapy, fewer side effects and a better quality of life.”
For additional information about
clinical trials
visit Mercy's health information library.
For more information about the Oklahoma Cancer
Consortium, contact Dr. Canfield at Cancer Care Associates, (405)
751-4343, or Robert Mannel, M.D., director of OU Cancer Institute,
(405) 271-6822.
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