I am a Kaiser Permanente member, and I found out that I had cancer in 2011.
I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1995, and it was in stage 4.
A clinical trial is an experiment where we compare something new, it may be a new test,
might be a new drug, or it might be a new type of surgical technique.
It is usually compared to what we call standard therapy, or what you would get if you weren't
in a clinical trial.
We want to see if the new intervention, be it a test, or a drug, or a surgical procedure,
is better than what our standard therapy is now.
In some clinical trials, we try to maintain remission, or try to control the cancer as
best as we can.
In some other clinical trials, we actually try to cure the cancer.
When you have early stage cancer, we give certain medications, so that the cancer doesn't
come back.
When cancer doesn't come back, that's basically the definition of a cure.
Many clinical trials are aimed at developing a new treatment which will achieve that particular goal
One of the advantages of participating in a clinical trial at Kaiser Permanente is that
the same practitioner that will be your principal investigator, or the lead physician in charge
of the clinical trial, will also likely be the doctor that's giving you care for your
cancer.
The advantage here is this doctor is going to know everything about your medical history.
What they don't know, they'll be able to find from our electronic health record.
We've recently been designated an NCORP site, which is an NCI Community Oncology Research Program
We get funding directly from the NCI, on a 5-year grant, to be able to provide research
trials for our patients.
This allows us to choose the best studies from the National Clinical Trials Network.
I've been practicing oncology here at Kaiser Permanente for the last 32 years, and I've
been running the research program for at least the last 20 years.
I can confidently say that Kaiser Permanente is a great place to get your cancer treated.
The experience of being treated here at Kaiser has been very rewarding.
First of all, my PSA level is at the lowest it has been since I received radiation at
the beginning of my cancer treatment.
Secondly, the care that they give is caring care, not just a patient with a number.
If someone is considering participating in clinical trials, I would say with 100 percent
certainty, "go for it."
This is the cutting-edge medicine that's the future in cancer treatment.
We're very lucky to have it right here at Kaiser.
This is an exciting time to be in medicine and in oncology because of the number of what
we call targeted drugs, or drugs that are based on your personal genomic structure of
your tumor, and its molecular characteristics.
It is a very exciting time, and there are a lot of trials open.
I do think we're going to be seeing a lot of advances.
I strongly encourage you to talk to your doctor.
Your doctors are very qualified about research, and should be able to provide you with what
types of clinical trials are available, and what type of trial is best for you.
Twenty years ago, our cancer treatment was not as good.
But 20 years ago, a lot of cancer patients volunteered to participate in clinical trials.
As a result, we have much better treatments now.
Twenty years from now, by participating in clinical trials, we can make a good contribution
to the next generation of patients.