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You may have heard that improvements in cancer care happen every day.

It’s true: treatments are getting better. That means many people with cancer now live longer than ever before.

Cancer deaths in the United States declined 33% from 1991 to 2021. That’s according to the American Cancer Society’s 2024 Cancer Statistics report.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved hundreds of cancer drugs from 1980 to 2024.

Cancer drugs now account for more than one in four of all new drug approvals in the United States. That’s according to the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development.

Clinical trials made every one of these advances possible.

Clinical trials are research studies in which people volunteer to test new medical treatments.

Clinical trials help researchers find new ways to prevent, detect, or treat disease. They also provide vital information about whether a proposed treatment is safe.

Clinical Trial in Pittsburgh Advances Cancer Care Everywhere

Not all clinical trials change the way doctors treat a disease. But that’s what happened with one UPMC-based study called IMpassion130.

This Phase 3 clinical trial tested the use of atezolizumab — an FDA-approved bladder and lung cancer drug — to improve survival rates in breast cancer patients.

Researchers enrolled 902 patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer in the trial. All patients received an FDA-approved chemotherapy drug called nab-paclitaxel. Half also received atezolizumab, while the rest received a drug-free placebo.

Neither the patients nor their doctors knew which patients received the active drug. When the trial ended, researchers found that patients with a certain genetic mutation who received atezolizumab survived significantly longer.

And their cancer took longer to return. Results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The FDA has since approved atezolizumab for a specific kind of triple-negative breast cancer.

Clinical trial volunteers — at UPMC and in 40 other countries — helped make this important breakthrough possible. Patients everywhere now benefit from this discovery.

Advances Are Made Every Day

The CAMILLA Clinical Trial is another important study out of Pittsburgh.

Researchers from UPMC Hillman Cancer Center published their results from the CAMILLA trial earlier this year, revealing a promising treatment for people with chemotherapy-refractory colorectal cancer – or cancer that hasn’t responded to initial treatment.

Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in the United States. That’s according to the American Cancer Society.

During the trial, researchers found that combining the cancer drugs cabozantinib and durvalumab in people with advanced, previously treated gastrointestinal cancer could offer expanded immunotherapy treatment options.

Patients who require a third-line treatment for colorectal cancer often have tumors that are unresponsive to immunotherapy.

But UPMC Hillman Cancer Center researchers, led by Anwaar Saeed, MD, medical oncologist, hematologist, and chief, Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology Program, found that combining the cancer drug cabozantinib with immune checkpoint inhibitor durvalumab is a promising strategy for people who typically don’t respond to single-agent immune checkpoint inhibitors.

This means more people could benefit from immunotherapy with an improved prognosis.

The CAMILLA trial led to STELLAR 303 Phase 3 investigating the combination of zanzalintinib — a next generation multi-kinase inhibitor similar to cabozantinib — and atezolizumab.

Also Led by Dr. Saeed, this trial is guiding innovative strategies for colorectal cancer immunotherapy treatment options.

Many Ways to Join in Cancer Research

More than 450 clinical trials are available at UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.

That means patients may have the opportunity to volunteer for a clinical trial. Participation in a specific trial depends on diagnosis, cancer stage, and patient demographics.

UPMC Hillman Cancer Center works to improve cancer care for everyone. As a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, we encourage patients to consider clinical trials.

This emphasis on research lets us advance cancer care every day in western Pennsylvania — and beyond.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published on January 15, 2021, and was last reviewed on July 25, 2024.