Clinical Trials Overview

Clinical trials are carefully organized research studies designed to evaluate the effectiveness of new drugs or treatment strategies. The clinical trial is meant to find new and better ways to treat people with cancer. UMass has innovative clinical trials which investigate new treatment options for pancreatic cancer patients.

Each study has specific rules about who can and cannot participate. Because clinical trials are experimental, participants are required to provide informed consent before they can take part in the study.

Making the decision to volunteer for a clinical trial is a significant personal choice. It is important to talk to your physician, family members, or friends about deciding to join a trial. To learn complete details about the treatment protocol, eligibility and enrollment status for UMass Pancreatic Cancer clinical trials please call the contact name listed below.

Learn More About Clinical Trials

The following websites are excellent resources for learning more about the details, definitions and phases of clinical trials. In addition, these sites have information on clinical trials going on across the United States.

National Cancer Institute - Official site for the National Institute of Health's principal agency for cancer research.

ClinicalTrials.gov - Provides patients, family members, and members of the public easy and free access to information on clinical studies for a wide range of diseases and conditions.

UMass Cancer Center Clinical Trials - Provides a general description of clinical trials and specific information on UMass cancer related clinical trials.

UMass Pancreatic Cancer Clinical Trials

Clinical trials play a crucial role in advancing cutting edge therapy for pancreatic cancer patients. To increase the number of clinical trials available at UMass, Dr. Bilal Piperdi has joined the Pancreatic Cancer Research Team (PCRT). PCRT is a group of eminent investigators dedicated to organizing and accelerating the clinical development of new agents for the treatment of patients with pancreatic cancer.

The group shares a passion to bring new advances to patients with pancreatic cancer as rapidly as possible. PCRT provides the only coordinated effort in the world dedicated to rapidly translating research discoveries into new treatments and supportive care for patients with pancreatic cancer. PCRT facilitates Phase I through Phase III clinical trials, with an emphasis on Phase I/II and Phase II trials.

This dedicated pancreatic cancer clinical trials program is generously supported by the Pancreatic Cancer Alliance, an all volunteer organization committed to increasing research for pancreatic cancer.

For more information on the following Clinical Trials available at UMass, please contact the Cancer Research Office at 774-443-0453.

A Randomized Phase III Study of Weekly ABI-007 plus Gemcitabine vs Gemcitabine Alone in Patients with Metastatic Adenocarcinoma of Pancreas

Trial Phase and Type
Phase III Therapeutic Trial
Sponsor
Abraxis BioScience
Description
This study is for people who have metastatic pancreatic cancer.
Principal Clinical Investigator
Venu Bathini, MD
Co-Investigators
Shakeeb Yunus, MD, Steven Grossman, MD, William Walsh, MD
Contact
Volkan Cetin, MD
Volkan.Cetin@umassmemorial.org

Quality of Life in Pancreatic Disease

Trial Phase and Type
Phase I Quality of Life Trial
Sponsor
UMass
Description
The goal of this study is to translate collected data into information that can then be used to counsel future patients regarding their expectations for treatment. This information will help patients make more informed treatment decisions to maximize their quality of life while fighting this challenging disease.
Principal Investigator
Giles Whalen, MD
Co-Investigators
Jessica Simons, MD, Giles Whalen, MD, Bilal Piperdi, MD, Jaroslav Zivny, Wahid Wassef, MD, Mary Sullivan, NP
Contact
Jessica Simons, MD
Jessica.Simons@umassmemorial.org

Protein Expression Profile Determinants in Diseases of the Pancreas: A Pilot Study

Trial Phase and Type
Translational/correlative research
Sponsor
UMass
Description
With patient approval, investigators will bank blood specimens from patients with pancreatic cancer and other pancreaticobiliary diseases and then study the proteins and genes in the blood. Through this research, investigators hope to find biomarkers for pancreatic cancer to help us make earlier diagnosis and other biomarkers to help us predict how patients will respond to the treatment.
Principal Investigator
Jennifer Tseng, MD, MPH
Co-Investigator
Victor Ambros, PhD
Contact
James Carroll, MD
James.Carroll@umassmemorial.org