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Help Finding Clinical Trials

Pancreatic Cancer | Last Active: Sep 5, 2023 | Replies (58)

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@markymarkfl

@stageivsurvivor is correct -- you can do your own search at PANCAN's website: The search page is a couple levels down from their home page, but you can go directly to it here: https://clinicaltrials.pancan.org/

I had not been to that page in a while. Their patient/caregiver option leads to pretty good self-directed searches, similar to other sites. Their Physician/HealthCareProfessional search option is open to a minor degree, but you need a special-access account to unlock many of the details. One nice thing about their site is that it's already narrowly focused on pancreatic cancers searches rather than every possible descendant from this Emperor of All Maladies (gratuitous reference to an award-winning and highly-recommended book of the same name).

I don't know how universal it is for various centers to pay the travel expenses for trials, but they (almost?) always pay for the meds. They pretty much have to pay for the experimental drugs/treatments, but when they're adding something on top of an existing "standard of care" it might be different.

There are discount options for lodging at or near many of the big centers. There's an on-campus Hope House (American Cancer Society) at some of them and they might be free or significantly cheaper than nearby hotels. There's an on-campus Marriott hotel at MD Anderson (Houston) and at Mayo Clinic (Jacksonville) that both have special deals for cancer patients (contact local hotel management for details). Mayo/Jax also has the wonderful Gabriel House next to the ACS Hope House. Some have requirements that you be accompanied by a caregiver, which is not always practical. If you're in otherwise good health, some of them will accept an exemption letter from your treating oncologist so you can travel alone if necessary.

@bethf -- Your original post had the root word I'd heard before and searched for again "Cancer Care Navigator" and "Clinical Trial Navigator." I did a quick search for those, but didn't find any personalized for-hire type services. Most were aligned with corporate or insurance company interests. PanCan provided me with the most useful/personalized info early in my search. @stageivsurvivor 's reference to CancerCommons looks very promising as well. You might start at their Services page: https://cancercommons.org/our-services/

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Replies to "@stageivsurvivor is correct -- you can do your own search at PANCAN's website: The search page..."

Thank you so much for all of your responses. I have contacted cancercommons.org and will have my first conversation with with on Monday!
Beth