Cancer Research at The Children's Hospital
Children who participate in clinical trials have better survival rates than children who are not involved in such trials. That’s what makes Children’s Clinical Oncology, Hematology, Neuro-Oncology, BMT and Experimental Therapeutics Research Department, part of The Children’s Hospital Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, such an important part of the hospital. Children’s involvement in clinical trials – studies that determine if new drugs or treatments are safe and effective – is crucial to understanding diseases and developing ways to prevent or treat them.
Children’s currently participates in more than 100 clinical trials for cancer and blood disorders funded by grants, pharmaceutical companies and the National Childhood Cancer Foundation. The Children’s Hospital Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders is the only hospital in the Rocky Mountain region affiliated with the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), an international organization that conducts research and clinical trials. COG provide National Cancer Institute (NCI) and CureSearch, a division of the National s participating institutions a listing of current trials, and is sponsored by the Childhood Cancer Foundation (NCCF). A committee at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine and a Colorado board review and approve trials. Then Children’s physicians and the clinical research department decide which trials best serve the children of the Rocky Mountain region.
View current cancer and blood disorder clinical trials at The Children's Hospital.
How to Enroll
To be enrolled in a trial, patients and families must agree to participate and the patient must meet specific eligibility requirements. Clinical trials have treatment plans called protocols. All patients on the trial at all institutions must receive the same treatment. Clinical trial protocols for children often are more aggressive than adult protocols, with higher dosages of chemotherapy given at more frequent intervals.
Data is submitted and analyzed throughout the study. Once a trial is complete, statisticians analyze data and decide which protocol is best for a specific disease. That therapy then becomes the standard treatment for children with that disease. Over the years, clinical trials have made tremendous strides in improving outcomes for children with cancer. Childrens’ survival rates correlate with the level of participation in clinical trials.
Younger children are much more likely to be enrolled in clinical trials, and research shows that younger children have better outcomes. For example, 60 percent of infants to four-year-olds with cancer are enrolled in clinical trials worldwide, as opposed to just 10 percent of adolescents 15 to 19 years old. Also, just 22 percent of 15- to 19-year-olds are treated in pediatric facilities such as a children’s hospital or even at an adult hospital that participates in clinical trials.
There is a lack of improvement in survival for young adolescents and adults as compared to younger children and it appears to be directly related to enrollment in clinical trials. To decrease the disparity, Children’s is opening more clinical trials to adolescents and young adults; there is even a trial for patients up to age 50. Extensive research supports that it is better for a 16-year-old to come to Children’s for treatment than to go to an adult hospital. Children’s has the expertise and the track record for improving the cure – it is part of the package when you come here.
