Clinical Trials
Clinical Trials
The NCI supports and conducts a number of clinical trials in AIDS-related and other HIV-associated malignancies. To find general information about cancer clinical trials click here.
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OHAM Director Dr. Robert Yarchoan discusses a patient with Dr. Richard F. Little and research nurses Karen Aleman and Nicole Grant. |
NCI-Coordinated Clinical Trials
To find an NCI-supported clinical trial in HIV-associated malignancies, you can search the list of all NCI-coordinated clinical trials. For HIV-associated malignancies, look under the specific cancer type, such as AIDS-related lymphoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, or anal cancer. If you want to speak to someone about NCI-coordinated clinical trials, you can call 1-800-4-CANCER. Alternatively, you can utilize the LiveHelp online chat.
AIDS Malignancy Consortium Clinical Trials
The AIDS Malignancy Consortium (AMC) conducts clinical trials in HIV-associated malignancies in a number of medical centers throughout the United States. Click here for more information on the AMC and trials conducted by the AMC.
Clinical Trials on the NIH Campus
The NCI conducts some trials in HIV-associated cancers as well as HIV infection in the Clinical Center on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. Patients are responsible for travel costs for their initial screening visits; however, once patients are enrolled in a trial, the NCI will pay the transportation costs for subsequent trial-related visits for patients who do not live in the local area. Click here for information and to search for a trial in Bethesda, Maryland. Most are grouped under “AIDS-related cancers and HIV infection”.
Other clinical trials resources:
For a listing and search engine of an extensive registry of federally and privately supported clinical trials conducted in the United States and around the world, you can look in Clinical Trials.gov.
For information on and a search engine for an extensive list of general HIV/AIDS clinical trials (including HIV-associated malignancies), you can look in AIDSinfo.
Note on Enrollment of HIV-Infect Patients on General Cancer Trials
Except for clinical trials focusing on a few AIDS-associated malignancies, HIV infected individuals have traditionally been excluded from wider participation in most cancer trials. This was because the immunodeficiency and co-morbidity of HIV infection often made the risk of experimental treatment too high with respect to the likely benefit. However, since the development of effective combination anti-HIV therapy, many HIV-infected individuals remain healthy and free of AIDS-defining conditions. At the same time, development of a wide variety of cancers is an increasing problem. The NCI feels that for this reason, the former rationale for exclusion no longer applies to all patients with HIV-infection. The Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program of the NCI is initiating programs to increase the ability of HIV infected patients to participate in NCI-supported cancer trials, including those of hematopoietic cell transplantation. A number of trials have already been opened or modified to include those with HIV infection for diseases such as Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia, and myeloma. For further information, contact Dr. Richard Little at rlittle@helix.nih.gov.
