West Virginia University’s Clinical Trials Research Unit (CTRU) offers the latest alternatives for cancer patients. Our cancer research is particularly focused on the types of cancers most common in the region – lung, breast, prostate, and colon/rectal.

WVU and the Cancer Center are recognized nationally as clinical trials sites with 40 or 50 trials typically offered at any given time. Recently, the Cancer Center participated in a national trial to test Herceptin for treatment of early stage breast cancer.

The drug, which is already used to treat certain advanced breast cancers, attacks a protein that helps tumor growth. The new studies found that women with early, HER2-positive breast cancers who received Herceptin and conventional chemotherapy were half as likely to have a recurrence as women with similar tumors who received only chemotherapy.

One of our study participants remarked that she was “ecstatic” to hear the news about the drug’s effectiveness on the last day of her treatment. She has been cancer free for more than a year.

Avastin is another new drug we studied here. An angiogenesis inhibitor, it is currently used to treat advanced colon cancer and recently has proven effective in improving the survival rate of advanced breast and lung cancer. It is taken intravenously in combination with standard chemotherapy drugs.

“These targeted treatments focus on cancer cells and have proven to be the most effective approach to fighting breast cancer,” said Jame Abraham, MD, medical director of WVU’s Cancer Center and head of the Comprehensive Breast Cancer Program.

Avastin has proven effective in extending the lives of patients with advanced colorectal cancer by an average of five months.

“We had a study participant who survived 20 months after being on the drug and was able to enjoy the remainder of his life,” said Miklos Auber, MD, medical oncologist.

Avastin also has proven effective in improving the response rate of advanced lung cancer patients. “The cancer shrank by half or more in 27% of the study participants who took Avastin, compared to just 10% in those who received chemotherapy only,” said John Rogers, MD, co-director of WVU’s Comprehensive Lung Cancer Program. “Clinical trials are an important part of our multidisciplinary approach to treating lung cancer.”

The CTRU has just opened a similar trial to test Avastin’s effectiveness in treating prostate cancer. A study to test its effectiveness against early stage colorectal cancer is also in the works.