Immunotherapy Clinical Trials

Checkpoint inhibitors in new cancers and earlier settings

Drugs such as pembrolizumab and nivolumab are approved in many cancers. Trials now test them in cancers where they are not yet approved, and earlier in the course of treatment, including before surgery rather than after.

Combination trials

The largest group. Immunotherapy paired with chemotherapy, radiation, targeted drugs or another immunotherapy, testing whether the combination reaches tumours that do not respond to either alone.

Predicting who responds

Immunotherapy works extremely well for some people and not at all for others, and current tests only partly explain why. Many studies collect tumour and blood samples specifically to find better predictors.

Solid tumour resistance

Some tumours suppress immune cells in the tissue around them. Trials test ways to change that environment so immunotherapy can work where it currently fails, including in glioblastoma, pancreatic and prostate cancer.

Cancer vaccines and other approaches

Including personalised vaccines built from a patient's own tumour, oncolytic viruses, and bispecific antibodies that bring T cells and cancer cells together.

Side effect and long term studies

Because immunotherapy works by loosening immune restraint, its side effects look like autoimmune conditions. Trials test ways to predict, prevent and manage them, and follow people for years afterwards.

Most trials require a confirmed cancer diagnosis and a specific treatment history, often disease that has returned or has not responded to standard therapy. Many also require a biomarker test on the tumour, such as PD-L1 expression or microsatellite instability, so recent pathology results are useful to have.

Studies also check organ function, and usually exclude people with active autoimmune conditions or those taking high dose steroids, since both interact with how immunotherapy works. Eligibility always varies by study.

Checkpoint inhibitors are usually given as an infusion every two to six weeks, and treatment often continues for up to two years if it is working and tolerated. Responses are typically slower to appear than with chemotherapy, and scans early in treatment can be difficult to interpret because immune activity can make a tumour look temporarily larger before it shrinks.

Some studies offer compensation for time and travel, and study related care, including the study drug and required monitoring, is typically provided at no cost to participants. Compensation varies by trial and is always described during informed consent before you agree to anything.

Curious whether clinical trials pay participants? Here's how compensation actually works.

How Much do Clinical Trials Pay? Everything You Need to Know About Getting Paid For Clinical Trials

Identify your trial. Use the filters to combine your diagnosis with immunotherapy. Titles name the cancer, the drug or drug class, and the setting, such as "first line" or "relapsed or refractory".

Check the location. Most immunotherapy trials run at cancer centres. Some sponsors help with travel and lodging, and the study details say so.

Complete the health profile. Click "Get started" to begin the 5-step application. Have three things ready: your exact diagnosis and stage, any biomarker testing already done on the tumour, and the list of treatments you have had and how the disease responded.

Submit the application. A study coordinator reviews it and contacts you. Nothing is decided until you have gone through informed consent, and your oncologist stays involved.