Clinical trials play an important role in helping cancer patients live longer and have better quality of life. While many people associate clinical trials with large, educational health care facilities, the New North has been a longtime home to a clinical research institute.
The HSHS St. Vincent Clinical Research Institute has been housed at St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay since 1983. Working directly with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the research institute provides adult and pediatric access to the latest cancer clinical trials.
“The institute helps ensure people can access leading-edge cancer care right here in Northeast Wisconsin without having to travel,” says Amy Koffarnus, director of the HSHS St. Vincent Clinical Research Institute. “It keeps the highest quality of cancer care close to home.”
In addition to research at university facilities, the NCI sought out community partners with which to work on clinical trials. When the NCI made its announcement, St. Vincent applied and was accepted into the program.
Since the clinic launched, more than 1,100 different clinical cancer trials have been provided to more than 5,300 patients. And while 90% of the clinical trial work is cancer related, the institute does some other clinical trial work as well.
“Clinical trials help us find new ways to prevent and detect cancer. They are the key to making progress against cancer,” Koffarnus says. “Patients not only help improve care for future patients but oftentimes can access the latest cutting-edge therapies for themselves years before it is available outside of clinical trials.”
HSHS St. Vincent has five regional cancer centers where patients can get connected with trials: two in Green Bay (one at St. Vincent, the other at HSHS St. Mary’s Medical Center); one in Oconto Falls at HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital; one at the Door County Medical Center in Sturgeon Bay; and one at HSHS St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan. The institute also works with an independent clinic in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to assist its patients. Patients receive care at their local sites and do not need to travel to Green Bay.
“Each of our clinicians automatically screens patients to see if they would be good candidates to participate in our trials,” Koffarnus says. “Trials are not just about new treatments but also look at ways to better manage symptoms of cancer care or improving a patient’s quality of life.”
For example, she says a clinical trial may study how often patients with a certain type of cancerous polyp should have colonoscopies — should it be every year or will every two or three years suffice? Another trial may look at medication that can help with treatment side effects such as nausea.
“Our doctors really value the partnerships they have with the clinic institute. They are focused on finding the best outcomes for people in our community and across the country,” Koffarnus says.
The research institute is supported with funds from government grants along with strong support from local donors through the HSHS St. Vincent/St. Mary’s Foundation.
“We are fortunate to have such support from the local community,” Koffarnus says. “We have very engaged doctors and scientists who work to provide the best care for our patients, which for some, may include a clinical trial.”
Koffarnus has been with the institute for 17 years and says she’s amazed at the differences in the treatments delivered then versus the care patients receive now. “You can’t advance cancer care without the trials,” she says.
Children receiving care in the hematology/oncology clinic at St. Vincent Children’s Hospital, which is embedded into the larger hospital, have access to the clinical trials as well.
“When children have cancer, many are in the hospital for weeks and months at a time while receiving treatment, and having the clinical trial treatments available to them is a definite differentiator,” Koffarnus says. “The ability to receive advanced care close to home means a lot.”
On the web hshs.org/st-vincent/services/cancer-care/clinical-research-institute
