Alberta is home to hundreds of active clinical trials that offer patients access to cutting-edge treatments today, while advancing cancer care for future generations.
Clinical trials are essential in empowering researchers and clinicians to better understand cancer as a disease by discovering and implementing new treatment options. That’s why Alberta’s major cancer centres have robust clinical trial units that launch dozens of new studies each year.
“Every one of these clinical trials has the potential to impact cancer care. Patients enrolled in clinical trials are being given the opportunity to receive tomorrow’s treatment, today,” says Dr. John Walker, an oncologist at the Cross Cancer Institute (Cross).
Last year, the team at the Cross, including Dr. Walker, were overseeing more than 100 active clinical trials. These trials continue to explore new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.
Alongside other investigators, Walker launched an immunotherapy trial for virus-associated cancers in 2017. Remarkably, a quarter of the participants are still alive and in remission today — a milestone made possible only through clinical trial research.
While some patients experience immediate benefits, the long-term impact of clinical trials can be even more significant as they often lead to new standards of care that transform how cancer is treated in the future.
“During my time practicing as an oncologist, I have had the good fortune to first enroll patients in an exciting clinical trial and later offer that very same treatment to subsequent patients as the new gold standard of care,” says Walker.
