May is National Cancer research month, though when the average person thinks of Monument Health, they probably don’t think about cancer research.
However, the work of Angie Dunbar, RN, BSN, CCRP, and Annie Brinson, CCRC, Supervisor of Clinical Research and all of the Physicians and Caregivers at the Cancer Care Research Department makes a massive difference, worldwide.
The drugs that pharmaceutical companies develop need extensive research and testing to determine whether they are effective in providing the health care solutions for which they were created. Part of that research and testing is administering the drug to select patients and tracking the results. Pharmaceutical companies also want to ensure that they’re not only getting results from larger metropolitan centers, where research typically takes place, so the Black Hills is a desirable locale for cancer research clinical trials because of our rural population. As a result, the Cancer Care Research Department at the Cancer Care Institute (CCI) has many different clinical research trials consistently available for volunteer cancer patients.
“Pretty much all of our cancer providers are able to offer a patient the option to be part of a clinical trial, in addition to the standard of care for their particular cancer,” says Angie.
“You don’t get to pick when you go on a clinical trial. They’ll randomize you,” adds Annie. “There are strict criteria. The trial has to be very closely matched to your particular case and your type of cancer.”
The trial therapies are monitored by department nurses like Angie to track patient response to the medication and to record any side effects. That data is sent to the administrators of the trial. The same trial can be going on for many years and in many locations before there is a definitive determination about the drug.
For patients, taking part in a clinical research trial does not guarantee results. “The coolest thing about our patients here is that they always say, ‘Even if it doesn’t help me, it will help my children and the next generation.’ And if they can be a part of that, absolutely they want to,” says Angie.
Most recently, Cancer Research was involved in two successful trials. The first, atezolizumab, is a drug for stage three colon cancer patients who met certain conditions which put them at higher risks. Standard chemotherapy doesn’t target cancer specifically. Rather, it indiscriminately attacks all rapidly reproducing cells, even healthy ones, which causes a host of side effects. Atezolizumab targets the cancer itself.
The second therapy, relacorilant, specifically targeted elevated cortisol, lowering the levels in patients and, as a consequence, showed that it improved the body’s ability to fight cancer.
Both therapies, which were given in addition to standard cancer therapies like chemo or radiation, were successful in their clinical trial goals. Thanks in part to Monument Health, both are now on the pharmaceutical market and are even in use at CCI.
“That we’re able to offer these cutting-edge treatments as part of clinical trials here is pretty amazing, because otherwise, you’d have to go to Mayo Clinic or Denver or one of the bigger cities to be a part of that,” Annie says.
“We’ve had several patients that have gone to Mayo Clinic because they wanted to be part of trials there,” says Angie, “and their provider there has straight up said, ‘you need to go back, be around your family and get that treatment at home, because there is clinical research in Rapid City, and those trials are open.’”
Caregivers interested in learning more about working in clinical research are advised to reach out to the department. There are positions available for those with only high school diplomas all the way up to physician-level training. “We often have roles come up that don’t require any certification to start. We help you get certification as part of your training,” Annie says.
Photo and story by Kory Lanphear