It’s not surprising that patients know a lot about their own health! With an informed community, we believe that the best treatment options can arise when the empowered patient can brainstorm together with their doctor. 

While there are many different treatment options available to you through your oncology team, clinical trials offer a range of different treatment options that should also be taken into consideration.  In this article we will outline what’s new in clinical trials in blood cancer. While this list highlights a few of the trials, we recommend visiting the Heal Mary platform or any clinical trial search that works best for you to get a full list.

Why could clinical trials benefit you?

If you’re new to the world of clinical trials we’ll just take a moment to explain the benefits.

Clinical trials in cancer are research studies where scientists work to find new ways to improve cancer treatments and the quality of life of people with cancer. By participating in a clinical trial patients can gain access to treatments that are not available in standard medicine. The reason why these treatments are being tested in clinical trials is because scientists hypothesize that the treatment will be effective at killing cancer cells or killing cancer cells with less side effects than what is currently offered. 

Engaging in treatments being tested in clinical trials may differ from standard care by: 

A.   Having less side effects 

Many clinical trials focus on studying a new drug, combination of drug, or a new therapy that may have less harmful side effects than the standard treatment. For example, scientists conduct clinical trials that test whether lower doses of drugs like chemotherapy can reduce side effects without compromising cancer-killing effects. Other clinical trials are investigating different methods of administering radiation that can be more targeted and accurate to tumors while sparing healthy tissue. Participating in radiation clinical trials could allow you to receive radiation with a new method, or access a new imaging procedure to guide radiation that may reduce negative side effects. 

Examples of blood cancer clinical trials that aim to reduce side effects:

Giving Chemotherapy for a Shortened Amount of Time Before a Stem Cell Transplantation

Dexrazoxane Hydrochloride in Preventing Heart-Related Side Effects of Chemotherapy in Participants With Blood Cancers

Reduced Intensity Chemotherapy and Radiation Therapy Before Donor Stem Cell Transplant in Treating Patients With Hematologic Malignancies

B. Being more effective at killing cancer cells 

Many clinical trials are investigating new ways of killing cancer cells and ways to kill them more effectively. This can involve using combination treatments where two or more therapies are used at the same time. Other trials are testing new types of chemotherapies, targeted therapies, and immunotherapies that use different tactics to kill cancer cells.  Once drugs have passed through clinical trials and proven themselves to be safe, and effective, they can be offered in standard care practices to everyone.   

Examples of blood cancer clinical trials that are evaluating new drugs or combinations:

A Study of Pembrolizumab/Vibostolimab (MK-7684A) in Relapsed/Refractory Hematological Malignancies (MK-7684A-004, KEYVIBE-004)

NKX101, Intravenous Allogeneic CAR NK Cells, in Adults With AML or MDS

Omacetaxine and Venetoclax for the Treatment of Relapsed or Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia or Myelodysplastic Syndrome Harboring Mutant RUNX1

C.   Being more targeted and personalized to your cancer 

It is well known that hematological malignancies can be underpinned by genetic mutations that help drive the cancer. Many clinical trials are testing new drugs that target specific genes and proteins that can be working improperly in blood cancers. If you are aware of specific mutations your cancer has you can look for clinical trials that target that gene. If you don’t know whether you have mutations, some clinical trials test you for them and will give you treatments specific to your genetic results. Overall, clinical trials can be a way to access personalized cancer medicine, treatment that is specific to the genetic makeup of your individual cancer.

Examples of blood cancer clinical trials that are evaluating targeted therapies:

Targeted Therapy Directed by Genetic Testing in Treating Patients With Advanced Refractory Solid Tumors, Lymphomas, or Multiple Myeloma (The MATCH Screening Trial)

A Pilot Trial of Atorvastatin in Tumor Protein 53 (p53) -Mutant and p53 Wild-Type Malignancies

Oral Arsenic Trioxide for NPM1-mutated AML

Enasidenib and Azacitidine in Treating Patients With Recurrent or Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia and IDH2 Gene Mutation

Why could clinical trials benefit your community?

While there are personal benefits, there are also benefits to the larger community because participation in clinical trials helps patients access better treatment options in the future.  

When you are diagnosed with cancer, your oncologist prescribes a treatment to you, describes that this is considered the primary treatment for your cancer, and outlines the side effects that you may experience. The reason that they can give you that treatment and know that it will be effective at treating your cancer is because it was already tested in clinical trials. This means that other patients with blood cancer underwent treatment in clinical trials that studied this treatment in the past and helped facilitate your ability to use the drug in the present. Participating in clinical trials helps better the treatments available for future patients.

What are the risks?

Clinical trials do pose risks. Treatments that are in early stages of testing such as a phase one clinical trials are still trying to learn more about how the drug works in humans. These trials ask questions like “How is the drug metabolized by the body? Which dose is best to minimize side effects but maximize the biological effect and maximize tumor shrinkage?”. It is possible that the drug might have adverse side effects and make you feel sick. The other risk is that the treatment you receive in a clinical trial could be less effective than your standard treatment. Scientists are still studying how the treatment affects cancer cells, and there is a chance that your cancer may not be affected by it. If you are considering participating in a specific clinical trial we encourage you to speak to your doctor and even the trial organizer to learn more about the possible risks. The more informed you are, the better you can weigh the pros and cons for yourself. 

How do I move forward?

Overall, we want to encourage the position that patients should know that trials can be an option. While participating in a clinical trial can pose both pros and cons, we argue that considering clinical trial options only has benefits!

We encourage you to peruse through clinical trials related to blood cancer and see what else is out there, what you could be eligible for, and what interests you. Talk to your doctor or reach out if we can help!