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SAN FRANCISCO—The US currently has 284 open clinical trials enrolling patients with T-cell lymphomas, a fact that is actually detrimental to this patient population, according to an expert in the field.
Anas Younes, MD, of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, presented this perspective at the 4th Annual T-cell Lymphoma Forum, which took place January 26-28.
Dr Younes noted that there are 361 clinical trials worldwide that are currently accruing patients with T-cell lymphomas. Of those, 284 are taking place in the US. Less than half of the US trials are new; 124 of them have been submitted since January 2010.
The new trials are divided pretty evenly between phase 1 and phase 2—66 and 61 trials, respectively. But only 1 of the studies is a phase 3, which suggests that having such a large number of trials may be hindering drug development as well as patient treatment.
“[W]e have too many clinical trials available for a small pool of patients,” Dr Younes said. “I think it’s not a good idea to have that. We’re diluting our efforts, major trials are not able to enroll in a timely manner, and most of them will close before they even enroll [an] adequate [number of] patients.”
As an example, Dr Younes cited lymphoma trials developed at MD Anderson that were open between 2004 and 2011. The center’s accrual of follicular lymphoma patients during this period ranged from roughly 40 to 160 patients. The number of Hodgkin lymphoma patients enrolled ranged from about 25 to 110, and the number of mantle cell lymphoma patients ranged from about 30 to 70.
But the largest number of T-cell lymphoma patients enrolled was about 50 in 2007. And on the whole, the center has not enrolled more than 10 to 15 patients per year.
“And the reason is there are so many competing trials in the United States,” Dr Younes said. “By the time [patients are] referred to us, they’re either not eligible or too sick to be treated . . . . So I think it’s becoming unhealthy competition with such a large number of protocols available for these patients.”
As of right now, MD Anderson is running 5 trials for T-cell lymphoma patients (and planning to open 3 more trials soon), but patient accrual has been slow.
For instance, a trial of vorinostat plus CHOP for untreated T-cell lymphoma has been open since 2008. It has accrued 12 patients but still has 40 slots open.
And a trial of MK-2206 in relapsed or refractory T-cell lymphoma has been open since 2010. It has accrued 1 patient and has 15 slots still open.
“We’re really unable to enroll enough patients in a timely manner anymore,” Dr Younes said. “So we need to prioritize [our trials]. We need to collaborate more.” 
SAN FRANCISCO—The US currently has 284 open clinical trials enrolling patients with T-cell lymphomas, a fact that is actually detrimental to this patient population, according to an expert in the field.
Anas Younes, MD, of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, presented this perspective at the 4th Annual T-cell Lymphoma Forum, which took place January 26-28.
Dr Younes noted that there are 361 clinical trials worldwide that are currently accruing patients with T-cell lymphomas. Of those, 284 are taking place in the US. Less than half of the US trials are new; 124 of them have been submitted since January 2010.
The new trials are divided pretty evenly between phase 1 and phase 2—66 and 61 trials, respectively. But only 1 of the studies is a phase 3, which suggests that having such a large number of trials may be hindering drug development as well as patient treatment.
“[W]e have too many clinical trials available for a small pool of patients,” Dr Younes said. “I think it’s not a good idea to have that. We’re diluting our efforts, major trials are not able to enroll in a timely manner, and most of them will close before they even enroll [an] adequate [number of] patients.”
As an example, Dr Younes cited lymphoma trials developed at MD Anderson that were open between 2004 and 2011. The center’s accrual of follicular lymphoma patients during this period ranged from roughly 40 to 160 patients. The number of Hodgkin lymphoma patients enrolled ranged from about 25 to 110, and the number of mantle cell lymphoma patients ranged from about 30 to 70.
But the largest number of T-cell lymphoma patients enrolled was about 50 in 2007. And on the whole, the center has not enrolled more than 10 to 15 patients per year.
“And the reason is there are so many competing trials in the United States,” Dr Younes said. “By the time [patients are] referred to us, they’re either not eligible or too sick to be treated . . . . So I think it’s becoming unhealthy competition with such a large number of protocols available for these patients.”
As of right now, MD Anderson is running 5 trials for T-cell lymphoma patients (and planning to open 3 more trials soon), but patient accrual has been slow.
For instance, a trial of vorinostat plus CHOP for untreated T-cell lymphoma has been open since 2008. It has accrued 12 patients but still has 40 slots open.
And a trial of MK-2206 in relapsed or refractory T-cell lymphoma has been open since 2010. It has accrued 1 patient and has 15 slots still open.
“We’re really unable to enroll enough patients in a timely manner anymore,” Dr Younes said. “So we need to prioritize [our trials]. We need to collaborate more.”
SAN FRANCISCO—The US currently has 284 open clinical trials enrolling patients with T-cell lymphomas, a fact that is actually detrimental to this patient population, according to an expert in the field.
Anas Younes, MD, of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, presented this perspective at the 4th Annual T-cell Lymphoma Forum, which took place January 26-28.
Dr Younes noted that there are 361 clinical trials worldwide that are currently accruing patients with T-cell lymphomas. Of those, 284 are taking place in the US. Less than half of the US trials are new; 124 of them have been submitted since January 2010.
The new trials are divided pretty evenly between phase 1 and phase 2—66 and 61 trials, respectively. But only 1 of the studies is a phase 3, which suggests that having such a large number of trials may be hindering drug development as well as patient treatment.
“[W]e have too many clinical trials available for a small pool of patients,” Dr Younes said. “I think it’s not a good idea to have that. We’re diluting our efforts, major trials are not able to enroll in a timely manner, and most of them will close before they even enroll [an] adequate [number of] patients.”
As an example, Dr Younes cited lymphoma trials developed at MD Anderson that were open between 2004 and 2011. The center’s accrual of follicular lymphoma patients during this period ranged from roughly 40 to 160 patients. The number of Hodgkin lymphoma patients enrolled ranged from about 25 to 110, and the number of mantle cell lymphoma patients ranged from about 30 to 70.
But the largest number of T-cell lymphoma patients enrolled was about 50 in 2007. And on the whole, the center has not enrolled more than 10 to 15 patients per year.
“And the reason is there are so many competing trials in the United States,” Dr Younes said. “By the time [patients are] referred to us, they’re either not eligible or too sick to be treated . . . . So I think it’s becoming unhealthy competition with such a large number of protocols available for these patients.”
As of right now, MD Anderson is running 5 trials for T-cell lymphoma patients (and planning to open 3 more trials soon), but patient accrual has been slow.
For instance, a trial of vorinostat plus CHOP for untreated T-cell lymphoma has been open since 2008. It has accrued 12 patients but still has 40 slots open.
And a trial of MK-2206 in relapsed or refractory T-cell lymphoma has been open since 2010. It has accrued 1 patient and has 15 slots still open.
“We’re really unable to enroll enough patients in a timely manner anymore,” Dr Younes said. “So we need to prioritize [our trials]. We need to collaborate more.”