Research - clinical trials for testicular cancer

Clinical trials may be carried out to:

• test new treatments, such as new chemotherapy drugs
• look at new combinations of existing treatments, or change the way they are given, to make them more effective or to reduce side effects
• compare the effectiveness of drugs used for symptom control
• find out how cancer treatments work
• determine the best tests and methods for detecting spread of the cancer.

Trials are the only reliable way to find out if a different operation, type of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or other treatment is better than what is already available.

Taking part in a trial Back to top

You may be asked to take part in a treatment research trial. There can be many benefits in doing this. Trials help to improve knowledge about cancer and develop new treatments. You’ll also be carefully monitored during and after the study. Usually, several hospitals around the country take part in these trials. It’s important to bear in mind that some treatments that look promising at first are often later found not to be as good as existing treatments, or to have side effects that outweigh the benefits.

If you decide not to take part in a trial your decision will be respected and you don’t have to give a reason. There’ll be no change in the way that you are treated by the hospital staff and you’ll be offered the standard treatment for your situation.

Blood and tumour samples Back to top

Blood samples and tumour biopsies may be taken to help make the right diagnosis. You may be asked for your permission to use some of your samples for research into cancer. Some samples may be frozen and stored for future use, when new research techniques become available.

The research may be carried out at the hospital where you are treated, or it may be at another one. This type of research takes a long time, so you are unlikely to hear the results. The samples will, however, be used to increase knowledge about the causes of cancer and its treatment. This research will, hopefully, improve the outlook for future patients.

Current research Back to top

Although current treatments are very effective in treating testicular cancer there are different trials going on trying to find ways of improving these.

The TE3 trial is trying to find out if the lung problems caused by bleomycin (which is used in BEP) could be reduced by giving the drug more slowly. Some men are given bleomycin in the usual way (over half an hour for 3 days in a row) and others have it slowly through a continuous infusion for 3 days. These different ways of giving it will be compared to see which is more effective and if giving it by continuous infusion helps reduce lung damage.

The TE23 trial is trying to find out if a new combination of chemotherapy called CBOP BEP (carboplatin and vincristine added to BEP) is better than BEP chemotherapy alone in men whose testicular cancer is higher risk.

There are also trials going on that are looking at how effective CT scans are at picking up recurrence in teratoma. Another trial is trying to find out if MRI scans should be used instead of CT scans in men with seminoma who are having surveillance| after their surgery. CT scans expose you to some radiation but MRI scans don’t. They use magnetism to build up a picture.

Our section on clinical trials| has more information.