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Clinical Programs

The principal investigators and staff scientists of the Center for Cancer Research (CCR) are conducting outstanding, cutting-edge, basic and clinical research on cancer, and translating these discoveries into treatment and prevention that will reduce the burden of cancer in humans.

Here we highlight several of these clinical research teams, conducting research at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md.

Developmental Therapeutics Section
The overall mission of the Developmental Therapeutics Section is to evaluate promising novel anticancer drugs in early phase clinical trials, while providing outstanding clinical care for patients with different types of cancer. An important focus of the Section is first-in-human clinical trials, particularly those that incorporate pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic endpoints, with the goal of informing subsequent clinical development.

Endocrine Malignancies Program
The mission of the Endocrine Oncology Branch is to provide outstanding clinical care for patients with endocrine tumors and to direct research efforts to the development of innovative diagnostic approaches and treatment of endocrine cancers, including thyroid, adrenal, pancreatic, neuroendocrine, and parathyroid cancers. A significant number of patients undergo surgical intervention for benign endocrine tumors to exclude a cancer diagnosis; as such, cancers often cannot be diagnosed by routine clinical, laboratory, and imaging studies. Endocrine malignancies are one of the fastest-growing cancer diagnoses in the United States, and there are limited effective treatments for patients with metastatic disease. Investigators at NIH have made numerous seminal contributions to the surgical management of endocrine tumors over the past 30 years, and many of the clinical characteristics and susceptibility genes for familial cancer syndromes have also been described by NIH investigators.

Experimental Transplantation and Immunology Clinical Program
The Experimental Transplantation and Immunology Clinical Program is dedicated to coordinated efforts in basic, preclinical, and clinical investigations in the areas of immunology, tumor angiogenesis, hematopoiesis, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The goal is to generate information from basic and preclinical investigations leading to the development of curative hematopoietic stem cell transplant-based therapies. Information from treatment protocols (including novel endpoints generated in the course of basic/preclinical research) is used to generate new questions and studies in the basic and preclinical research efforts.

Gastrointestinal (GI) Malignancies Program

The Gastrointestinal Malignancies Program comprises researchers from the Medical Oncology Branch and Affiliates and the Surgical Oncology Branch who have a special interest and expertise in gastrointestinal malignancies. The aim of the program is to coordinate the clinical research activities so that they are mutually strengthened, enhanced, and guided by multidisciplinary cooperation in an effort to provide a comprehensive patient-centered approach to those with GI cancer who attend NCI.

The specific goals of the Gastrointestinal Malignancies Program are to:

  • Develop and implement research strategies for the treatment of GI malignancies that are truly novel and that address an unmet clinical need
  • Provide outstanding clinical care and guidance within a multidisciplinary framework to GI cancer patients who are enrolled in research protocols at NCI
  • Provide trainees with a comprehensive clinical experience in the management of GI malignancies through in-depth multidisciplinary training in clinical and translational research

The research and trials are carried out by principal investigators, physicians, and staff from the following branches:

         Gastrointestinal (GI) Medical Oncology Group, Medical Oncology Branch and Affiliates

         GI and Hepatobiliary Malignancies Section, Surgery Branch

Gynecologic Malignancies Program
The Gynecologic Malignancies Program incorporates the broad areas of clinical research, clinical care, and clinical training in pursuit of treating patients with gynecologic malignancies, specializing in ovarian, fallopian tube, primary peritoneal, endometrial, and cervical cancers. We also have particular interest in BRCA 1/2 mutation carriers with cancer. The goals of the Gynecologic Malignancies Program are to:

  1. Develop and test therapeutic research strategies for the treatment of gynecologic malignancies by focusing on “bench to bedside” research and combining treatment of standard and novel regimens with a particular focus on targeted therapies in the tumor microenvironment, development of proteomic technologies for early detection, and validation of therapeutic targets.
  2. Provide clinical care to gynecologic cancer patients enrolled in research protocols through assessment, staging, and treatment of patients, including continuity of care by following patients in both the inpatient and outpatient settings.
  3. Provide trainees with a comprehensive clinical experience in the management of gynecologic malignancies through in-depth multidisciplinary training in clinical and translational research.

HIV and AIDS Malignancy Branch (HAMB)
The HIV and AIDS Malignancy Branch (HAMB) conducts laboratory and clinical research in HIV, HIV/AIDS-related malignancies, and viral-induced tumors. The principal aim of this translational research program is to develop novel therapies for HIV and AIDS-related malignancies based on an understanding of their pathogenesis. Clinical research is primarily directed toward innovative therapies for AIDS-related malignancies, as well as the study of the pathogenesis and natural history of these diseases.

Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology – Clinical Trials Group
The Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology’s (LTIB) Clinical Trials Group has the goal of designing and successfully completing cutting-edge clinical trials for patients with solid tumors using novel immunotherapy platforms and combinations developed within the LTIB.

Lymphoma Therapeutics Section
The mission of the Lymphoma Therapeutics Section is to advance the treatment and the understanding of lymphoproliferative disorders. A primary goal is to investigate and develop innovative strategies involving novel targets, pharmacodyamics, pharmacogenomics and reversal of drug resistance. Another primary goal is to investigate the clinical and biological natural history of lymphoproliferative disorders in an effort to define pathobiology, novel therapeutic targets, and mechanisms of drug resistance. These efforts are integrated in a translational approach that involves close collaboration between the laboratory and clinic.

Medical Oncology Branch Clinical Protocols
The Medical Oncology Branch (MOB) has the following major functions: 1) clinical research; 2) clinical care; and 3) clinical training. The purpose of these functions is:

  1. To develop novel therapeutic research strategies for the treatment of cancer and to test those strategies by conducting clinical research in medical oncology across a spectrum of diseases and disease mechanisms;
  2. To provide clinical care to adult cancer patients enrolled in research protocols, including in-patient and out-patient care services, to support the clinical research effort emanating from principal investigators in laboratories and branches across the Center for Cancer Research (CCR); and,
  3. To train physician-scientists in a laboratory-to-clinic translational research setting to promote the development of their expertise in medical oncology research and to support their board certification by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM).

Molecular Imaging Program
The The Molecular Imaging Program (MIP) is a multidisciplinary team of clinicians and scientists dedicated to exploring new molecular imaging techniques as a means of detecting and monitoring cancer. The program is composed of three major sections: Clinical Research, Pre-clinical Research, and Physics. In addition, MIP has a close relationship with the Small Animal Imaging Program on the Frederick campus of NCI.

Neuro-Oncology Branch
The Neuro-Oncology Branch (NOB) develops an integrated clinical, translational and basic research program that engages the strengths and resources of both the NCI and NINDS for the purpose of developing novel experimental therapeutics for children and adults with tumors of the central nervous system.

Prostate Cancer Program
The Prostate Cancer Program’s three major goals are clinical research, clinical care, and clinical training to improve management of patients with prostate cancer. Specifically, the prostate cancer team strives to:

  • Design and test new therapeutic research strategies for the treatment of patients with prostate cancer
  • Provide excellent multi-disciplinary clinical care to prostate cancer patients
  • Educate its trainees with a comprehensive clinical experience in the management of all types of prostate cancer in a multi-disciplinary setting

Radiation Oncology Branch
The mission of the Radiation Oncology Branch includes the following components:

  1. Plan and conduct pre-clinical and clinical research on the biologic and therapeutic effects of radiation administrated alone or in combination with other modalities of treatment.
  2. Develop novel technology and imaging-based approaches for radiation oncology.
  3. Investigate the natural history of disease in order to understand and evaluate means of diagnostic assessment for the purpose of optimizing treatment selections.
  4. Provide radiation therapy as well as general oncology consultations for patients admitted to other clinical services, in a collaborative approach.

Thoracic Oncology Program
The Thoracic Oncology Program is a large pre-clinical and clinical program that emphasizes therapies that are novel and experimental in nature and encompasses all major tumor types of the chest, including lung cancer (non-small cell and small cell), mesothelioma, thymoma, and esophageal cancers. The program relies on multiple sub disciplines for treatment, such as thoracic surgery, pulmonary medicine, and medical oncology. The research and trials are carried out by principal investigators, physicians, and staff of the Medical Oncology and Surgery branches of the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health. The Thoracic Oncology Program incorporates the major functions of clinical research, clinical care, and clinical training in pursuit of treating patients with thoracic malignancies.

The goals of the Thoracic Oncology Program are to:

  • Develop and test therapeutic research strategies for the treatment of chest malignancies by conducting clinical research across multiple disciplines and combining standard and novel treatment regimens
  • Provide clinical care to thoracic cancer patients enrolled in research protocols through assessment, staging, and treatment of patients, including continuity of care by following patients in both the inpatient and outpatient settings
  • Provide trainees with a comprehensive clinical experience in the management of thoracic malignancies through in-depth multidisciplinary training in clinical and translational research

The research and trials are carried out by principal investigators, physicians, and staff from the following branches:

           The Thoracic Oncology Section, Medical Oncology Branch and Affiliates

           Thoracic Oncology Section, Surgery Branch

Tumor Immunology Section
The Tumor Immunology Section of the Surgery Branch is dedicated to developing and conducting new cancer treatments based on stimulation of the immune system of the cancer patient. Current clinical trials are available for patients with melanoma and cancers of the breast, colon, lung, pancreas, ovary, kidney, and others.

Vaccine Clinical Trials
Cancer vaccines are a type of biologic therapy designed to boost the immune system’s natural ability to defend the body against abnormal cells, including cancer cells. There are two types of vaccines: prophylactic or preventive vaccines and therapeutic or treatment vaccines. Preventive vaccines are designed to prevent people from becoming infected with bacteria or viruses that can cause cancer or other diseases. Cancer treatment vaccines are designed to help boost the immune system’s response in people who already have cancer.

The NCI vaccine program is working toward developing novel vaccines for cancer immunotherapy and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). View NCI vaccine studies

Below is a list of branches/clinical programs at the NCI Center for Cancer Research that are conducting vaccine clinical trials. Please visit the branch/program websites for a listing of their current clinical trials:

            Experimental Transplantation and Immunology Clinical Program

            Gastrointestinal (GI) Medical Oncology Group

            Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Biology – Clinical Trials Group

            Neuro-Oncology Branch

            Pediatric Oncology

            Prostate Cancer Program

            Thoracic Oncology Section, Surgery Oncology

            Tumor Immunology Section

            Vaccine Branch

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