Cancer Research and Clinical Trials
We offer you as many cancer treatment options as possible. For a growing number of patients, this includes innovative therapies available through leading national cancer clinical trials.
Trinity Health gives you the option to participate in groundbreaking cancer research while continuing to receive care close to home. We offer a broad range of clinical trials, some of which are only available in the nation’s premier cancer programs. Our team has decades of research experience, providing you with new and potentially more effective forms of care. All patients benefit from our clinical trials program as our doctors have experience in giving newly approved treatments long before they become standard of care.
What Are Clinical Trials?
Clinical trials are research studies that give you access to promising new care techniques before they’re widely available. Before offering clinical trials, researchers must demonstrate that these services are as good or better than current care methods.
Our cancer team reviews each patient’s diagnosis to evaluate if they are a candidate for a clinical trial. The decision to participate is entirely up to you. As a cancer research program, our doctors are up to date on the latest advances in cancer care. When new treatments are approved for public use, our team already has years of experience using them. Our clinical trials not only explore new treatments but also methods to control symptoms associated with cancer and cancer treatment. We also offer cancer prevention and screening studies.
Cancer Center Locations
Breast Mastectomy
Trinity Health Grand Rapids Hospital
200 Jefferson Ave SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Phone: (616) 685-5000
Surgical Oncology
Trinity Health Cancer Center - Oakland Hospital
44405 Woodward Ave
Alice Gustafson Center Suite 202
Pontiac, MI 48341
Phone: (248) 858-2270
Breast Cancer
Trinity Health Richard J. Lacks Sr. Cancer Center
250 Cherry SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Phone: (616) 685-5600
A National Leader in Cancer Clinical Trials
Cancer research and clinical trials have been helping doctors at Trinity Health make significant advances in cancer care.
The National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Program (NCORP) program at Trinity Health — one of only 34 in the country.
Our exceptional ranking earned our Cancer Center one of the largest grant awards among NCORP designees and the ability to make the biggest difference for our patients. In 2019, we received an additional award of $19.3 million, allowing us to continue offering the most important National Cancer Institute sponsored clinical trials close to home.
Trinity Health is the lead institution in the Michigan Cancer Research Consortium NCORP which includes 14 cancer centers (in three states), extending the support and benefits of our expertise to patients and staff at locations throughout Michigan and nationally.
Innovative Cancer Treatments Available Through Clinical Trials
Cancer research studies at Trinity Health give you access to promising new care options that include:
- Immunotherapy: This treatment “trains” your immune system to attack cancer cells, similar to the way your body fights a cold. We have been successful in using immunotherapy to treat all cancers including lung cancer and melanoma. Learn more about chemotherapy and medical oncology.
- Precision medicine: We are a national leader in precision medicine. This approach examines abnormal changes (mutations) in each person’s individual cancer cells to determine the best treatment. We are participating in many of the groundbreaking precision medicine trials and have achieved one of the highest levels of participation nationally.
- New cancer surgery technologies: We are making surgery more precise by evaluating new technologies and determining the best ways to use them. Our team includes doctors with a special interest in robotic surgery and imaging technologies that provide enhanced views of brain tumors during surgery.
- Sophisticated radiation therapy options: Our team is evaluating radiation techniques that make treatment most effective and minimize effects of radiation on normal tissue. These efforts include using radiation therapy to shrink tumors in combination with other treatments that may include immunotherapy. Read more about radiation therapy.
Other Cancer Research Interests
Trinity Health offers more than 100 clinical trials at any given time. Our research interests span all aspects of cancer care, including:
Early-phase clinical trials
Trinity Health participates in NCORP’s early-phase clinical trials program. This program gives you access to treatments that are in earlier stages of research. You can experience treatments that are only available in select programs nationwide. Trials also investigate how we can reduce the amount of treatment needed for cancers but receive the same outcomes with less side-effects.
Side effects of cancer treatment
Our team is finding ways to help patients manage side effects that can get in the way of cancer treatment. These efforts include helping chemotherapy patients manage hot flashes to lower the risk of them discontinuing treatment.
Cancer screening and prevention
Our experts are exploring methods of detecting cancer in earlier phases when it’s easier to treat. We are working toward preventing cancer in people who are at high risk due to a family history of cancer.
Cancer care delivery
This type of research is improving the way we deliver cancer care to populations of people. For example, we are exploring methods for assuring that patients have the most effective survivorship care planning to improve quality of life after cancer treatment.