Clinical trials offer more options to prostate cancer patients at SVRCC

Patients choosing prostate cancer treatment at the Southern Vermont Regional Cancer Center (SVRCC) have some additional options. Patients began enrolling on two new clinical trials for radiological treatment of prostate cancer last month. Both of the newly available trials are in phase III, which is the last phase before a course of treatment becomes standardized, after phases I and II have shown the treatment in question is safe and effective. SVRCC participates in mostly phase III clinical trials.

“We always offer the standard of care, the best proven treatment medicine can offer,” said Dr. Matthew Vernon, radiation oncologist at SVRCC. “However, we are excited to offer clinical trials when we have reason to believe we can do better than the current standard. Sometimes the hope is to show a new treatment offers higher cure rates, and sometimes the goal is to maintain high cure rates while decreasing side effects of treatment.”

The newly opened trials aim to study the effects of anti-hormonal therapy, which is often used in conjunction with radiation therapy to prevent cancer from returning.

“Hormonal therapy is effective, but it has some unpleasant side effects. Proving that we can shorten the duration or even omit hormone therapy could be a really good thing for many patients,” said Vernon.

Each clinical trial has its own eligibility criteria. These guidelines specify who can participate. Of the two newly opened trials, one is for patients with intermediate risk prostate cancer, while the other is for patients with higher risk. Most intermediate to high risk prostate cancer patients at SVRCC would be eligible to participate in one of these two trials.

Most of the clinical trials offered at SVRCC are part of larger nationwide trials organized by large cooperative oncology groups. In addition to individual trial selection by SVRCC physicians, all clinical trials at the Cancer Center have gone through a detailed review by the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Institutional Review Board, a group who makes sure the research is medically safe and ethical.

Clinical trial participants still receive the same level of treatment they would receive if they were not participating in a clinical trial. In general, no one receives an inactive treatment or placebo in cancer treatment trials. The patient either receives the regular standard of treatment alone or along with the new drug or method being investigated.

“The studies provide care that is just as good, if not better than, the current standard,” said Theresa Keefer. “Obviously, if we didn’t have reason to believe patients receiving the experimental treatment would do at least as well as the control patients, we wouldn’t offer the trial at all.”

If a patient is eligible for a clinical trial treatment, Vernon or Keefer will meet with him to explain the possible benefits and side effects. The patient can decide to enter the trial or not. The care of a patient who decides to participate in a clinical trial is followed very closely and recorded during and after treatment.

“These trials have the potential to offer cutting-edge treatment for the patients who enroll, but the true benefits are realized for many thousands of future patients if the findings can help us make good treatment even better,” said Vernon.

More information about clinical trials is available by calling 802-447-1836 or visiting www.svhealthcare.org/services/cancer-center.

Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center is a department of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC). It is accredited by the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer and provides full-service cancer care in a community setting. Its physicians are members of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Putnam Physicians. SVMC is part of Southwestern Vermont Health Care (SVHC), an integrated health system serving Bennington and Windham Counties in Vermont and nearby communities in New York and Massachusetts. In addition to the Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center, SVHC consists of Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation, the SVHC Foundation, and the SVMC Northshire and Deerfield Valley campuses. It also includes Dartmouth-Hitchcock Putnam Physicians, a multispecialty medical group operated in partnership with Dartmouth-Hitchcock. svhealthcare.org