Our goal is to provide every opportunity for a child to be cured of his disease. For many children with cancer and blood disorders, developmental therapeutics represents hope. Many drugs identified as beneficial in developmental therapeutics have been moved into front-line treatments.
What is developmental therapeutics?
Developmental therapeutics focuses on the creation of new treatments for patients with cancer or blood disorders. Most commonly, developmental therapeutics focuses on new drugs for:
- Tumors that have failed to respond to standard treatment
- Tumors that have returned
Developmental therapeutic trials also attempt to identify drugs that are:
- Safer to administer
- Less toxic to patients and cause fewer short- and long-term side effects
- Easier to give to patients (for instance, replacing an I.V. drug with the same drug that can be given by mouth)
- More effective when given in combination compared to when given as a single drug
At the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, our hope is that new combinations or new ways of administering the medicine will lead to a better outcome in treating the disease—and a better life for the child.
Why is it important?
Phase I trials represent the most innovative treatments available. These trials provide additional treatment options for children, who in the past had no other options besides the standard protocol.
