You don’t need to travel for cancer clinical trials

Participating in a cancer clinical trial once meant having to travel to a major academic medical center, which could be especially burdensome for patients who didn’t live near large cities. But Sutter Health is working to make cancer clinical trials more accessible by bringing research opportunities closer to where patients live.

Benefits of clinical trials

Cancer clinical trials can offer several potential benefits for patients. In some cases, they provide access to promising new treatments before they become widely available.

Before medications and other therapies receive approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), they must go through a rigorous clinical trial process to evaluate their safety and effectiveness. That process can take years.

For example, a new treatment for breast cancer may show encouraging results and be nearing FDA approval, but still remain unavailable outside of a clinical trial. Participating in a breast cancer clinical trial may allow eligible patients to access that treatment earlier.

“Patients may have exposure to a novel, exciting treatment that they would not [otherwise] be able to receive, because the FDA has not approved them yet,” says Tatyana Pozniansky, RN, director of operations for clinical research at Sutter Health. “But we do have enough data to support their benefit.”

Clinical trials also play an important role in advancing cancer care for future patients.

“It’s a huge contribution to science,” Pozniansky adds.

Research studies help physicians and researchers better understand whether treatments are effective at slowing disease progression, reducing symptoms or improving outcomes. Clinical trials are also essential to the FDA approval process, helping make new therapies more broadly available to patients over time.

Why accessibility is important

Historically, many cancer clinical trials have been based at large academic medical centers, which are often located in major metropolitan areas. For patients living in smaller communities or rural parts of California, participating in a lung cancer clinical trial or other study could require frequent long-distance travel.

“Clinical trials usually demand a lot of visits,” Pozniansky says. “So traveling obviously adds stress, time and financial burden.”

Sutter Health has expanded access to clinical trials through community-based locations, helping more patients participate in research while remaining closer to home.

Receiving care locally can reduce some of the logistical and financial burdens that may come with a cancer diagnosis. It may also help patients maintain more of their normal routines and support systems during treatment.

“The patients stay local and [can] retain their quality of life, and day-to-day routine, as much as possible,” Pozniansky says.

Benefits of staying local

Participating in a clinical trial close to home may offer additional advantages. Many patients already have established relationships with local oncologists and care teams they know and trust.

If a patient had to travel to participate in a prostate cancer clinical trial, for example, they might need to transition part of their care to a new medical team. Local access can help patients continue receiving care from providers who are already familiar with their medical history and treatment plan.

“They know their oncologist already and they just feel much more comfortable to continue care where they started to receive that care instead of transitioning to a large center,” Pozniansky says.

Staying local may also simplify certain insurance and care coordination considerations, she adds.

If you are interested in participating in a cancer clinical trial, talk with your oncologist or care team about whether a clinical trial may be appropriate for your situation and how to learn about available options.