Research and clinical trials are the great hope for doctors and scientists for the future of cancer care. Riverside’s research team carefully adheres to the Commission on Cancer requirements on oncology studies related to tumor registry analytical cases. The Commission on Cancer provides accreditation to Riverside for our cancer program and our oncology research activities. Your cancer care team at Riverside follows the National Comprehensive Cancer Network guidelines for optimal treatment solutions. This means that our team follows national cancer care standards, looking at all treatment pathways to give each patient the most substantial opportunity for success. Clinical trials are considered at every point of care because new clinical trials represent the most leading-edge treatment available.
Understanding the importance of research and clinical trials
Cancer research's primary goal is to improve patient outcomes – to beat cancer through better treatments with fewer side effects. Research also includes identifying new ways to prevent cancer in the first place – and help communities that are more significantly affected by cancer. Research discoveries are proven through clinical trials, which provide the data needed for FDA approval to make these new treatments available to the general public. Through significant relationships that the cancer care team at Riverside has with nationally acclaimed organizations, Riverside patients can access these ground-breaking new treatments.
Academic medical center partnership with VCU Health
Research and discovery partnerships are critical to the cancer battle because new diagnostics and treatments are available every day. Riverside has a joint grant with VCU Health in place, supported by the National Cancer Institute. This partnership provides academic medical center clinical trial access for our patients. Also, Riverside has affiliations with pharmaceutical partners, so patients also can access new medications investigated to impact cancer.
Today, about 40 percent of U.S. men and women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes.
Advances in cancer treatments and a surge in clinical trials worldwide provide key research and tactics for treating cancer. Survival rates continue to improve as a result. In fact, in the last three decades, cancer deaths have declined 27 percent in the United States, due to a reduction in smoking, as well as improvements in early detection and treatments.
Clinical trials at Riverside
Riverside is committed to helping more and more patients survive cancer through its dedication to clinical trial research. Ongoing research and access to clinical trials are important components of our cancer program.
During clinical trials patients volunteer to help doctors and researchers discover better ways to prevent, treat or diagnose diseases. At Riverside, cancer trials are coordinated through our cancer institute, a comprehensive cancer treatment network with multiple locations across southeastern Virginia.
Riverside currently offers clinical trials for the following cancer diagnoses:
- Breast
- Colon
- Gallbladder, bile duct
- Lung
- Prostate
- Stomach
Immunotherapy study
One clinical trial at Riverside focuses on immunotherapy treatments, which use the patient’s own immune system to fight cancer. Riverside is one of only five institutions with access to this study where we’re looking at removing mature bone marrow cells that protect cancer from immune system attacks.Cholangiocarcinoma study
Riverside physicians and researchers are also participating in a groundbreaking study for cholangiocarcinoma, cancer that forms in bile ducts. We’re the only center in the mid-Atlantic region with access to this study and have seen several cholangiocarcinoma patients respond well to the treatment.Our clinical research team guides our decisions about clinical trials. Here you can find a clinical trial at Riverside.
Case conferences / tumor board
A case conference or tumor board is an opportunity to have an interdisciplinary team of physicians and other health care specialists come together to discuss your case and treatment plan. As an accredited Comprehensive Community Cancer Program by the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer, Riverside’s cancer program reviews a minimum of 18 percent of all cancer cases in a case conference or tumor board setting.
Pathologists, radiologists, surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, patient navigators, nurses and other specialists discuss the specifics of the case, and often review the latest research that may apply. The benefit to the patient is the opportunity to have more physicians reviewing the case.