Clinical trials are vital to the overall knowledge and progress against cancer. Most of today’s standard treatments for cancer began in clinical trials. It is through clinical trials that cancer researchers are able to test the effectiveness of new drugs compared to current therapy, pioneer new surgical techniques, and establish more precise screening tools.

With funding provided by VeloSano, we can offer more clinical trials designed by Cleveland Clinic researchers in the emerging areas of cancer genomics and immunotherapy to our patients, ensuring they have the best chance of success in beating cancer.

The field of genomics is expanding rapidly – beyond simply identifying genes that predict a patient’s cancer risk. Oncologists are increasingly able to individualize a patient’s cancer treatment after identifying genetic mutations in a tumor – ones that may be absent from all the patient’s other cells.

In the future, it is possible that we will treat cancer by its underlying genomic make-up, rather than where it is located in the body. Cleveland Clinic is one of the first cancer centers in the nation to offer a genomics-based approach to cancer care.

Immunotherapy stimulates the body’s immune system to fight cancer. As tumor cells grow, they begin to produce proteins that shield themselves from a person’s immune system. Immunotherapy drugs are able to break that shield and stimulate the body’s immune system to attack the tumor cells.

Treatment for melanoma, an often deadly form of skin cancer, has been revolutionized by the introduction of new immunotherapy drugs. Cleveland Clinic is researching how this immunotherapy can help patients with other difficult-to-treat cancers, including bladder, brain, lung and kidney cancer.