At MSK Kids, your child may be able to take part in a clinical trial, also known as a clinical research study. In a clinical trial, doctors evaluate a new therapy or treatment combination to find out whether it is more-effective than current treatments. Nearly every cancer treatment used today exists because of a clinical trial. For every study, the goal is the same: to cure the disease and enable the patient to live a long, healthy life.

Our patients have access to many of the latest clinical trials, some of which are available only at MSK. For example, studies are evaluating new approaches to T-cell depletion that reduce the risk of graft-versus-host-disease while maximizing the immune system’s ability to recover after a transplant. Researchers are also looking at modified T cells and new medications to treat viral infections after transplantation. A new nontoxic regimen to prepare a child for a bone marrow transplant is also being studied. It uses an antibody instead of chemotherapy and radiation therapy before the transplant, which may reduce short- and long-term side effects in your child.

MSK Kids also takes part in many nationwide clinical trials as a founding member of the Children’s Oncology Group, the coordinating center and co-founder of the Pediatric Oncology Experimental Therapeutics Investigators’ Consortium, and through other multicenter trial networks across the United States and around the world.

Your child’s care team will let you know if your child can participate in a clinical trial. The decision to enroll is entirely voluntary. The study team will explain the benefits and risks of the study to you so you can make an informed decision.