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Tag Archives: clinical trials

Clinical Trials Webinar -What YOU need to know!

Why do we have clinical trials? What is involved with clinical trial participation? How do I find a trial that’s right for me? Find out by listening to this webinar from Liver Cancer Connect, a dedicated program of the Hepatitis B Foundation. Presenters Jill McNair of the Center for Information & Study on Clinical Research Participation, and Katelyn Levy, BS, clinical research coordinator at Johns Hopkins Suburban Hospital, explain what clinical trials are and answer frequently asked questions about participating in a trial.

Continue reading "Clinical Trials Webinar -What YOU need to know!"

Clinical Trials in Liver Cancer: What You Need to Know

diversegroupMyth: Clinical trials are only for people with advanced stages of cancer.

Fact: No! Trials are available for all stages of cancer, not just for people who have advanced cancer that is not responding to treatment.

If you or a loved one needs treatment for liver cancer, clinical trials are an option to think about. Continue reading "Clinical Trials in Liver Cancer: What You Need to Know"

The Drug Discovery Process

It takes talent, dedication, lots of  time, and a sizable investment to bring a safe and effective drug to market. The Drug Discovery Process YouTube video, compliments of PhRMAPress, introduces the long and arduous drug process from the identification of a compound in the lab, though clinical trials and the FDA approval process. It may sound simple, but this process may take up to 1,000 people, 12-15 years and up to 1.3 to 1.6 billion dollars to put a new drug in the hands of the patient.

Consider this process when following the progress of  hepatitis B drugs on the Hepatitis B Foundation Drug Watch page.  Compounds could remain in various stages for years. Note that the “preclinical” phase represents the drugs that are still in the lab and not yet ready for human clinical trials.

The Hepatitis B Foundation also maintains a webpage with the latest hepatitis B related clinical trials. Contact information is provided for each trial for those wishing to volunteer to participate.  Volunteers must meet the criteria for participation in a trial.

The future looks bright for a functional cure for hepatitis B. It may take a few more years to get the drug into the hands of the patient, but each step of the process is crucial in order to produce a drug that is both effective and safe.

 

 

 

The Hepatitis B Foundation’s Hepatitis B Clinical Trials Page

Did you check out Tuesday’s Hep B Blog, “Participating in HBV Clinical Trials” for those living with Hepatitis B?  It’s time to have a more in-depth look at the HBV  trial entries that are updated monthly on The Hepatitis B Foundation’s (HBF’s) Hepatitis B Clinical Trials web page. Roughly 350 trials out of the 112,278 clinical trials maintained by ClinicalTrials.gov pertain to HBV related studies.  The ClinicalTrials.gov site is a registry of trials that located in 175 different countries.  Changes to ClinicalTrials.gov are an ongoing process.

Each month the HBF’s Hepatitis B Clinical Trials web page is updated based on a thorough review of clinicalTrials.gov registry.   Trials that are new and are recruiting are added.  Completed trials are deleted, and modifications are made based on the “last updated date” of the each trial entry. All identified trials are active and currently recruiting patients. Modifications may include anything from additional site locations added to the trial, to new contact information, or even a change in protocol.  A few international trials are in an unknown state, but remain on our page until we hear word if the trial is completed, or no longer recruiting patients.  If you are local and interested, it is worth pursing to get the current status.

The page is divided into U.S. trials, International trials, Co-Infection trials, Pediatric trials, HBV & Liver Transplantation, HBV & Liver Cancer, and HBV Reactivation and Lymphoma. Some of these categories are more recent and were added to address other areas for those living with HBV.

Recently HBF has made an effort to include trials, within the country of origin for the trial, that not only treat HBV, but also monitor patients.  These long term studies may use new, experimental techniques to monitor HBV patients, or those at high risk for HCC.  There are also opportunities to participate in long-term studies that monitor patients and look for common factors, trends etc. among those living with HBV.  It’s another opportunity to meet with  cutting-edge liver specialists, and possibly even contribute by helping researchers determine factors that may cause HBV disease to activate, or worsen, or hopefully improve.

So have a seat at your computer and review HBF’s Hepatitis B Clinical Trials web page, or go to the individual section that interests you.  The trials listed contain the original title, the purpose, or basic description of the trial.  Due to logistics, the trial site is very important, which is why all entries contain the countries included in the site unless they are too great to list. Then they are listed as “international“. Contact information is also maintained and updated, with a link to email and phone contact info.  Most importantly is the NCT number (NCT followed by an 8 digit identifier), or ClinicalTrials identifier, which is how all trials are referenced in the ClinicalTrials.gov registry. By clicking on the NCT#, you will be linked to the trial of interest directly within ClinicalTrials.gov, where you can investigate the details of the trial and see if it is of interest, and whether or not you meet the criterion for participation.

Give it some thought and think about whether an HBV clinical trial is an option for you.  Discuss your ideas with your liver specialist, and confer with others in HBV support groups that may have experience with a drug, or past clinical trial experience.  Feel free to contact HBF with any questions you might have regarding clinical trials.

If you think of a way to make our clinical trials page more user-friendly, or trial categories that might be missing, be sure to leave a comment and let me know.  And if you happen to find an HBV trial that is recruiting, but is not listed, please be sure to let us know. HBF is here to help!