Cancer and Oncology Clinical Trials

About Cancer and Oncology Clinical Trials

Cancer consists of a group of cells that have lost their normal controlling mechanisms, and are multiplying in an out-of-control fashion. Cancer can occur in any tissue or any organ. As the cancer cells multiply, they can grow into neighboring tissues, and can spread (metastasize) via the blood stream to other parts of the body.

When normal cells become cancer cells, mutations in two general classes of genes within a cell are believed to help trigger the cancer; these are called the proto-oncogenes and the tumor-suppressor genes. Research and clinical trials are helping to clarify the relationship of these genes, while also providing a better understanding of the interacting proteins in the nucleus of a cell that regulate cell division and which, when deregulated, can lead to cancer.

Cancer and Oncology Clinical Trials at Novartis

At Novartis Pharmaceuticals, anti-cancer therapies have emerged from the understanding of how cancer cells differ from normal cells. Currently, Novartis is exploring a number of novel compounds via cancer clinical trials that may apply to some of the following conditions listed below.

Metastatic Melanoma
Metastatic melanoma is the most advanced stage melanoma -- a type of skin cancer. These cancer cells can become malignant and grow uncontrollably. This creates a fast-growing mass of cells, called a tumor.

Breast cancer
Among cancer deaths in US women, those due to breast cancer are second only to those of lung cancer. Age is a factor - 80% of breast cancers occur in women over 50. In younger women, genetic factors may play a role. Because growth of breast tissue is highly sensitive to estrogens, the more a woman is exposed to estrogen over her lifetime, the higher the risk for breast cancer.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST)
These quite rare tumors represent about 20% of the benign and malignant tumors of the small bowel. It's sometimes difficult to distinguish between benign connective tissue tumors and low-grade cancers of the muscle wall of the small gut. Malignant tumors of this type can produce intestinal obstruction or perforation, and spread within the abdominal cavity is common.

Leukemia
Often called "cancer of the blood", leukemia is the uncontrolled proliferation of large numbers of abnormal white blood cells, which take over the bone marrow and often spill out into the blood stream. Organs that may also be affected include the lymph nodes, spleen, and liver. Leukemias are classified as either acute or chronic, as well as by the type of white blood cell from which they originate, e.g. lymphocytic or myeloid.

Other solid tumors
The most common ones include cancer of the prostate, the brain (glioma), lung, colon, rectum, and ovary.

Bone metastases
Cancers arising in the prostate, breast or lung are those most likely to produce secondary deposits in the bones. Such metastases are often very painful, and radiation therapy is not always successful in relieving this.

If you are interested in learning more about other disease areas or therapeutic areas of Novartis clinical research, please select from the list below.

• Arthritis, Rheumatology and Bone Health Clinical Trial Information


• Cancer and Oncology Clinical Trial Information


• Cardiology and Vascular Diseases Clinical Trial Information


• Diabetes Clinical Trial Information


• Dermatology Clinical Trial Information


• Gastroenterology and Digestive Diseases Clinical Trial Information


• Neurology Clinical Trial Information


• Ophthalmology and Eye Diseases Clinical Trial Information


• Respiratory Clinical Trial Information


• Novartis Medical and Clinical Research