In addition to the therapies approved by Health Canada, patients may be able to access several other therapies through clinical trials. By participating in a clinical trial, you will be helping researchers answer important questions that will further the development of new treatments and new treatment guidelines. Also, clinical trials often give you another option in your treatment plan.
Kidney Cancer Canada makes every effort to be aware of major clinical trials for renal cell carcinoma across Canada. As a patient with renal cell carcinoma, you may be eligible to access a therapy through a clinical trial depending upon:
Your sub-type of kidney cancer (e.g., clear cell renal cell carcinoma or other)
Your stage of disease (e.g., whether or not you have metastasis)
Whether you have had one or more prior therapies
For ease of reference, we have organized major clinical trials into groupings below according to where you are on the treatment journey. For example, you’ll find trials for patients who have just recently been diagnosed and are pre-surgery or clinical trials for those for patients who have already had several systemic therapies.
Diagnostic trials look at what tests (such as blood, laboratory or imaging tests), or procedures are best at finding (detecting) kidney cancer or seeing if kidney cancer has come back (recurred).
Note: When available, the researcher in charge of the study, called the Principal Investigator, is listed. Also, if the clinical trial is for a particular type of cancer it will be mentioned.
Studies may be done to look at certain factors or characteristics of a patient or their cancer cells that provide information on the likely outcome (prognosis) of a patient with kidney cancer. Studies may also be done to see what might predict how a kidney cancer patient will respond to treatment (predictive factor).
Note: When available, the researcher in charge of the study, called the Principal Investigator, is listed. Also, if the clinical trial is for a particular type of cancer it will be mentioned.
Active surveillance uses a watch-and-wait approach, keeping a close watch on a patient’s kidney cancer, but waiting to start treatment until it starts to grow or cause problems.
Note: When available, the researcher in charge of the study, called the Principal Investigator, is listed. Also, if the clinical trial is for a particular type of cancer it will be mentioned.
Ablative therapies, or tumour ablation techniques, are treatments that destroy kidney cancer cells in a certain way. For example, thermal ablative procedures use extreme temperatures such as heat or cold to destroy cancer cells.
Note: When available, the researcher in charge of the study, called the Principal Investigator, is listed. Also, if the clinical trial is for a particular type of cancer it will be mentioned.
Neoadjuvant trials test whether certain treatments given before the main treatment, which is usually surgery, help reduce the size of kidney tumours. Types of neoadjuvant treatments include drug therapy, radiation therapy or other treatments.
Note: When available, the researcher in charge of the study, called the Principal Investigator, is listed. Also, if the clinical trial is for a particular type of cancer it will be mentioned.
Surgery to remove the tumour is the mainstay of treatment of kidney cancer treatment. Surgery trials test new ways of doing kidney cancer surgery or new devices or technologies to use during surgery to help protect kidney function.
Note: When available, the researcher in charge of the study, called the Principal Investigator, is listed. Also, if the clinical trial is for a particular type of cancer it will be mentioned.
The purpose of adjuvant trials is to find out whether additional treatment given after kidney cancer surgery – the main treatment for kidney cancer – helps slow or reduce the risk of the cancer from coming back. Types of adjuvant treatments include drug therapy, radiation therapy or sometimes other treatments.
Note: When available, the researcher in charge of the study, called the Principal Investigator, is listed. Also, if the clinical trial is for a particular type of cancer it will be mentioned.
Radiation therapy trials test different ways of giving radiation or combining radiation with other cancer treatments to better treat patients with kidney cancer.
Note: When available, the researcher in charge of the study, called the Principal Investigator, is listed. Also, if the clinical trial is for a particular type of cancer it will be mentioned.
Drug trials test a new drug, different combinations of drugs, or using different dosages and schedules for giving drugs to better treat patients with kidney cancer. Drug trials also test how safe, effective and what side effects a new drug or combination of drugs may have.
Because most kidney cancers do not respond well to chemotherapy, these studies often focus on using new or different combinations of drugs, such as targeted or immuno-oncology therapies. The studies listed below are mainly for patients whose cancer has spread from where it started in the kidney to nearby tissue or lymph nodes (locally advanced) or spread to other parts of the body (metastatic) kidney cancer.
Note: When available, the researcher in charge of the study, called the Principal Investigator, is listed. Also, if the clinical trial is for a particular type of cancer it will be mentioned.
If you find a clinical trial that may be of interest to you, take the information to your physician to discuss it in more detail. Please REGISTER with Kidney Cancer Canada and join the Discussion Forum to reach out to other patients participating in a clinical trial or to ask a specific question.
The Canadian Kidney Cancer information system (CKCis) is a web-based national registry intended to support the development of clinical and basic research in kidney cancer across Canada. It is an active research project in Canada since 2011.
CKCis contains pertinent retrospective as well as prospective de-identified patient data collected from consented patients who have been diagnosed and treated for renal cell carcinoma. Fifteen Canadian centres, across 6 provinces, actively accrue kidney cancer patients into the CKCis registry. There are over 20,000 unique patient identifiers in CKCis.
The Kidney Cancer Research Network of Canada is a virtual and inclusive network of researchers committed to the facilitation of kidney cancer research across different sites in Canada that will enhance the knowledge of kidney cancer and its treatment.
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