ANZUP trials coming soon
New ANZUP trials coming soon Clinical trials are essential for discovering new treatments for diseases, as well as new ways to detect, diagnose, and reduce the chance of developing the disease. That means learning about what we are dealing with (both the disease, and the person affected by it); understanding what treatment approaches might be available, and what is coming up; testing the new ideas to see if they are safe, whether they actually work and make a difference, how often they should be administered, the cost of the new treatment and if there are any side effects. Below are four new ANZUP clinical trials that will be opening soon. They aim to improve treatments and outcomes for testicular, prostate, and kidney cancer patients. They will test gaps in knowledge, and hopefully lead to greater understanding of these cancers whilst also providing more treatment options in the future.
Testicular cancer: CLIMATE (ANZUP1906) Assessing the Clinical utility of miR-371a-3p as a marker of residual disease in Clinical Stage 1 Testicular Germ Cell Tumour, following orchidectomy. Testicular cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in men aged between 15 and 39 in Western countries, however it can occur at any age. Most men diagnosed with testicular cancer will have cancer confined to the testicle, without evidence of spread to other areas of the body. These men are highly likely to be cured following surgical removal of the testicle (orchidectomy) alone, and most will not require additional chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Sometimes, a man may choose to undergo preventive chemotherapy or radiotherapy, which reduces the risk of their cancer coming back; however, this may result in long-term side effects for some men. For this reason, most men in Australia are recommended “active surveillance,” which involves regular reviews with their doctor, computerised tomography (CT) scans and blood tests, but no chemotherapy or radiotherapy. With this approach, most men will be spared from unnecessary treatment and side effects. However, a small number of these men will have recurrent cancer detected during active surveillance. Reassuringly, these men are also highly likely to have a positive outcome following additional treatment. A new blood test, micro-ribonucleic acid (miRNA), which evaluates a protein commonly found in testicular cancer, is under investigation. Early studies have found that miRNA is detectable in blood samples of men who have known testicular cancer.
“Testicular cancer is a highly curable cancer, however, in those who need treatment, side effects from treatment can result in long term impact on quality of life. Sometimes, patients are given treatment when there is a high suspicion of recurrence of testicular cancer, but not all of these patients actually have a recurrence. Current blood tests and scans can only be so good at confirming recurrence of testicular cancer. A new blood test is being developed that looks very promising at being an extremely sensitive and specific blood test for testicular cancer. CLIMATE is an ANZUP study aimed at determining whether this blood test, miR-371, is sufficiently accurate in order to be used to guide treatment or non-treatment, thereby improving QOL in testicular cancer survivors.” CLIMATE Principal Investigator, Associate Professor Ben Tran
CLIMATE is a new collaboration between ANZUP and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.
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