Cancer Clinical Trials in Worcester, MA

This phase III trial compares the effect of bevacizumab and osimertinib combination vs. osimertinib alone for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer that has spread outside of the lungs (stage IIIB-IV) and has a change (mutation) in a gene called EGFR. The EGFR protein is involved in cell signaling pathways that control cell division and survival. Sometimes, mutations in the EGFR gene cause EGFR proteins to be made in higher than normal amounts on some types of cancer cells. This causes cancer cells to divide more rapidly. Osimertinib may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking EGFR that is needed for cell growth in this type of cancer. Monoclonal antibodies, such as bevacizumab, may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Giving osimertinib with bevacizumab may control cancer for longer and help patients live longer as compared to osimertinib alone. Read Less

This phase III ALCHEMIST trial tests the addition of pembrolizumab to usual chemotherapy for the treatment of stage IIA, IIB, IIIA or IIIB non-small cell lung cancer that has been removed by surgery. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as pembrolizumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Chemotherapy drugs, such as cisplatin, pemetrexed, carboplatin, gemcitabine hydrochloride, and paclitaxel, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Giving pembrolizumab with usual chemotherapy may help increase survival times in patients with stage IIA, IIB, IIIA or IIIB non-small cell lung cancer. Read Less

This ALCHEMIST trial studies genetic testing in screening patients with stage IB-IIIA non-small cell lung cancer that has been or will be removed by surgery. Studying the genes in a patient's tumor cells may help doctors select the best treatment for patients that have certain genetic changes. Read Less

This phase 3 trial compares the addition of nivolumab to chemotherapy (carboplatin and paclitaxel) versus usual treatment (chemotherapy alone) for the treatment of anal cancer that has spread to other places in the body (metastatic). Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as nivolumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Chemotherapy drugs, such as carboplatin and paclitaxel, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Giving nivolumab together with carboplatin and paclitaxel may help doctors find out if the treatment is better or the same as the usual approach. Read Less

The purpose of the Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection (PRECEDE) Consortium is to conduct research on multiple aspects of early detection and prevention of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) by establishing a multisite cohort of individuals with family history of PDAC and/or individuals carrying pathogenic/likely pathogenic germline variants (PGVs) in genes linked to PDAC risk for longitudinal follow up. Read Less

This phase II/III compares the standard therapy (chemotherapy plus cetuximab) versus adding bevacizumab to standard chemotherapy, versus combination of just bevacizumab and atezolizumab in treating patients with head and neck cancer that has spread to other places in the body (metastatic or advanced stage) or has come back after prior treatment (recurrent). Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as atezolizumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Bevacizumab is in a class of medications called antiangiogenic agents. It works by stopping the formation of blood vessels that bring oxygen and nutrients to tumor. This may slow the growth and spread of tumor. Cetuximab is in a class of medications called monoclonal antibodies. It binds to a protein called EGFR, which is found on some types of cancer cells. This may help keep cancer cells from growing. Cisplatin and carboplatin are in a class of chemotherapy medications known as platinum-containing compounds. They work by killing, stopping, or slowing the growth of cancer cells. Docetaxel is in a class of chemotherapy medications called taxanes. It stops cancer cells from growing and dividing and may kill them. The addition of bevacizumab to standard chemotherapy or combination therapy with bevacizumab and atezolizumab may be better than standard chemotherapy plus cetuximab in treating patients with recurrent/metastatic head and neck cancers. Read Less

This phase II trial studies whether adding radium-223 dichloride to the usual treatment, cabozantinib, improves outcomes in patients with renal cell cancer that has spread to the bone. Radioactive drugs such as radium-223 dichloride may directly target radiation to cancer cells and minimize harm to normal cells. Cabozantinib may stop the growth of cancer cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Giving radium-223 dichloride and cabozantinib may help lessen the pain and symptoms from renal cell cancer that has spread to the bone, compared to cabozantinib alone. Read Less

This is a Phase III open-label study to assess if camizestrant improves outcomes compared to standard adjuvant endocrine therapy for patients with ER+/HER2- early breast cancer with intermediate-high or high risk for disease recurrence who completed definitive locoregional therapy (with or without chemotherapy). The planned duration of treatment in either arm within the study will be 7 years. Read Less

This phase II Lung-MAP treatment trial studies the effect of AMG 510 in treating non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer that is stage IV or has come back (recurrent) and has a specific mutation in the KRAS gene, known as KRAS G12C. Mutations in this gene may cause the cancer to grow. AMG 510, a targeted treatment against the KRAS G12C mutation, may help stop the growth of tumor cells. Read Less

Accurate risk assessment is essential for the success of population screening programs and early detection efforts in breast cancer. Mirai is a new deep learning model based on full resolution mammograms. Mirai is a mammography-based deep learning model designed to predict risk at multiple timepoints, leverage potentially missing risk factor information, and produce predictions that are consistent across mammography machines. Mirai was trained on a large dataset from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in the United States and found to be significantly more accurate than the Tyrer-Cuzick model, a current clinical standard. The primary aim of this study is to prospectively quantify the clinical benefit (i.e. MRI/CEM cancer detection rate) of Mirai-based guidelines and to compare them to the current standard of care. Conduct a prospective study where patients who are identified as high risk by Mirai guidelines are invited to receive supplemental MRI within 12 months. Compare cancer outcomes between patients only identified as high risk by Mirai and patients identified as high risk by existing guidelines The secondary aim is to study the impact of new guidelines by race and ethnicity, to ensure equitable improvements in cancer screening. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to compare any good and bad effects of using radium-223 along with docetaxel chemotherapy treatment versus using docetaxel alone. Earlier studies helped show that the combination is safe, but the combination has not been proven to work better than either drug alone. The goal of this study is to find out if combining docetaxel and radium-223 is better than giving either drug by itself. Read Less

Researchers are looking for a better way to treat men at high-risk of biochemical recurrence (BCR) of prostate cancer. BCR means that in men who had prostate cancer and were treated by either surgery and/ or radiation therapy, the blood level of a specific protein called PSA rises. PSA is a marker of prostate cancer cells activity. The PSA increase means that the cancer has come back even though conventional imaging such as computed tomography (CT) scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and bone scans does not show any lesion of prostate cancer. Recently a more sensitive imaging method called prostate-specific membrane antigen [PSMA] positron emission tomography [PET]) /computed tomography [CT]) scan may identify prostate cancer lesions not detectable by conventional imaging. Men with BCR have a higher risk of their cancer spreading to other parts of the body, particularly when PSA levels raised to a certain limit within a short period of time after local therapies. Once the cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it can become even harder to treat. In men with prostate cancer, male sex hormones (also called androgens) like testosterone can help the cancer grow and spread. To reduce androgens levels in these patients, there are treatments that block androgens production in the body called androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). ADT is often used to stop prostate cancer. Another way to stop prostate cancer growth and spread is to block the action of androgen receptors on prostate cancer cells called androgen receptor inhibitors (ARIs). The new generation ARIs including darolutamide can block the action of androgens receptors and are available for the treatment of prostate cancer in addition to ADT. It is already known that men with prostate cancer benefit from these treatments. The main objective of this study is to learn if the combination of darolutamide and ADT prolongs the time that the participants live without their cancer getting worse, or to death due to any cause, compared to placebo (which is a treatment that looks like a medicine but does not have any medicine in it) and ADT given for a pre-specified duration of 24 months. To do this, the study team will measure the time from the date of treatment allocation to the finding of new cancer spread in the participants by using PSMA PET/CT, or death due to any cause. The PSMA PET/CT scans is performed using a radioactive substance called a "tracer" that specifically binds to the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) which is a protein often found in large amounts on prostate cancer cells. To avoid bias in treatment, the study participants will be randomly (by chance) allocated to one of two treatment groups. Based on the allocated treatment group, the participants will either take darolutamide plus ADT or placebo plus ADT twice daily as tablets by mouth. The study will consist of a test (screening) phase, a treatment phase and a follow-up phase. The treatment duration is pre-specified to be 24 months unless the cancer gets worse, the participants have medical problems, or they leave the study for any reason. In addition, image guided radiotherapy (IGRT) or surgery is allowed and your doctor will explain the benefits and risks of this type of therapy. During the study, the study team will: take blood and urine samples. measure PSA and testosterone levels in the blood samples do physical examinations check the participants' overall health examine heart health using electrocardiogram (ECG) check vital signs check cancer status using PSMA PET/CT scans, CT, MRI and bone scans take tumor samples (if required) ask the participants if they have medical problems About 30 days after the participants have taken their last treatment, the study doctors and their team will check the participants' health and if their cancer worsened. The study team will continue to check this and regularly ask the participants questions about medical problems and subsequent therapies until they leave the study for any reason or until they leave the study for any reason or until the end of the study, whatever comes first. Read Less