The New York Times has recently published a series of 3 articles, written by Amy Harmon, that follow an experimental drug’s effect on shrinking advanced melanoma.

The articles specifically write about the human side of drug trials by following five patients who entered the trial as the last resort, chronicling their miraculous remissions and the struggles involved in bringing these kinds of drugs to market. PLX 4032, developed by Roche for treating melanoma, was in the first phase. New drugs must undergo 4 stages in testing which are outlined below:

Dr. Keith Flaherty, the lead oncologist from the University of Pennsylvania, in charge of the Phase 1 trials, was investigating ways in which certain genetic mutations that cause melanoma could be turned off. To qualify for entry into the trial, patients had to have the genetic mutation that stimulated the cancer. And the results for PLX 4032 were nothing short of astonishing: tumors disappeared.

The articles detail the frustrations dealt with by patients, families and doctors when trying to push for combination drug therapy or when trying to speed up drug approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In addition, drug companies do not necessarily cooperate with each other as Dr. Flaherty finds out when he urges several companies to combine their drugs in one trial in order to target several different pathways in much the same way that HIV patients receive a “cocktail” of medications that slow replication of the HIV virus.

The articles make compelling reading. Here are the links:

Target Cancer: A Roller Coaster Chase for a Cure

Target Cancer: After Long Fight, Drug Gives Sudden Reprieve

Target Cancer: Recovery, Relapse, Reinvention

If you or someone you know is interested in participating in clinical trials (not necessarily this one) you can research all the trials available by going to clincialtrials.gov . There you can search a large database of federally and privately funded trials available in the U.S. and around the world.