Clinical Trials
for Breast Cancer in Massachusetts
176 clinical trials for Breast Cancer are currently recruiting participants at study sites in Massachusetts. Study-related care is provided at no cost.
Breast Cancer clinical trials in Massachusetts: what to expect
Breast cancer trials are sorted first by subtype, because the treatments differ: hormone-receptor-positive, HER2-positive (including the newer HER2-low group) and triple-negative disease each have their own studies. Most recruiting trials test a new drug or combination, including targeted pills, antibody-drug conjugates and immunotherapy, either for metastatic cancer or before and after surgery for early-stage disease. Others study less surgery or radiation, ways to reduce recurrence, and screening for people at higher risk.
In Massachusetts, recruiting breast cancer studies are concentrated in Boston, Burlington, Foxborough and Springfield, with sites in 28 other cities. 90 of the 176 are run by a drug or device company, which usually means a larger study with travel reimbursement; the rest are academic or hospital-led.
Who breast cancer trials usually look for
Listings name the subtype, the stage (early or metastatic) and how many treatments you may already have had. Early-stage trials often enroll between diagnosis and surgery, or in the months after surgery; metastatic trials usually enroll when a treatment has stopped working. Some specify menopausal status or a particular mutation (BRCA, PIK3CA, ESR1), which the site can test for. Nearly all require that you are well enough for daily activity and that recent blood work is adequate.
Your receptor status is on your pathology report; the site will confirm it from that report, so you do not need to know it by heart to ask.
What taking part involves
Screening reviews your pathology and scans and adds blood work, sometimes a biopsy. Treatment then runs in cycles, with infusions every two to three weeks or daily pills, and scans every two to three months to check the response. Early-stage trials follow you for years after treatment ends, usually with a visit or call every few months. Study drugs and study-specific tests are free; care you would receive anyway is billed to insurance as usual. Placebo, when used, is added to standard treatment.
Questions worth asking the study team
How the study treatment compares with what your oncologist would otherwise recommend; whether the trial is randomized and what the other arm receives; what happens if the cancer grows or returns; and how visits fit around work and family. Many trials now allow some visits at a local clinic.
Showing 20 of 176 recruiting Breast Cancer trials in Massachusetts
Where the Breast Cancer studies are in Massachusetts
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston56 trials
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston49 trials
- Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston38 trials
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston17 trials
- Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston12 trials
- Boston Medical Center, Boston9 trials
- Boston162
- Burlington14
- Foxborough7
- Springfield7
- Worcester7
- Methuen6
- Milford6
- Peabody6
Counts are recruiting studies listing at least one site in Massachusetts, from ClinicalTrials.gov, refreshed every two days.
Breast Cancer clinical trials in Massachusetts: common questions
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