I understand your situation of the oncologist not being of much help in finding a suitable trial. This is often the case when one is being seen by a GI oncologist whose patient population is more of those with GI cancers of the colon and stomach. They are more aware of clinical trials for those cancers than pancreatic which is considered a rare cancer and not likely to have more that a few pancreatic cancer patients under treatment.

For this reason I chose commuting to a larger medical center with a high-volume pancreas program having GI oncologists with a sub-specialty in pancreatic cancer. They are more aware of clinical trials for pancreatic cancer…if not at their institution, then at others around the country. While I was successful in finding my clinical trial using targeted therapy with a PARP inhibitor that is also being evaluated for targeting the ATM gene, there are organizations which do clinical trial searches at no charge. The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCan.org) not only has a clinical trial finder website, but they have patient case managers that work with CancerCommons.org in identifying suitable trials. Two other organizations with staff that can do searchers are EmergingMed.com associated the LetsWinPC.org and myTomorrows.com. Phone contact info is listed on their web sites.

The Abramson Cancer Center of PennMedicine in Philadelphia does a number of clinical trials using PARP inhibitors. The specialist at Penn with PARP inhibitors is Dr. Kim Reiss-Binder. MSKCC in NYC also has experience in targeting the ATM gene. Clinical trials reimburse participants for transportation costs. For trials that might be distant, there are several transportation programs administered by non-profit organizations in the USA that provide free round trip transport on corporate aircraft for the patient and one caregiver. One such program I believe is called Corporate Air Partners or Corporate Air Angels. They organize the flight and the patient needs to get to the local airport where the flight is originating from.

There are also organizations that can help with housing. So one should not limit themselves in only considering clinical trials within close proximity. Pancreatic cancer is a rare cancer so in order to get a sufficient number of patients to enroll, the studies are conducted in most instances at major metropolitan centers with experience in treating pancreatic cancer. In major metropolitan areas, you may find some infusion clinics participating but not likely in rural locations. The good news is that transportations costs are reimbursed and the principal investigator or clinical trial nurse navigator will plain what is reimbursed.