The New England Journal of Medicine, one of the largest references for the medical community distributed in over 120 countries, has just published the results of an international study on lung cancer involving the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg and CIEC* (*Clinical and Epidemiological Investigation Centre) CRP-Santé
Research activities are an integral part of the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg’s mission and have been carried out for several years in close partnership with CRP-Santé. The two institutions are committed to several lines of strategic research, particularly in the fields of oncology, immunoallergology, cardiology and sports medicine.
With regard to clinical research, a major collaboration has been developed between the CHL and CIEC CRP-Santé. The CIEC lends support to the organisation and logistics of clinical research projects in Luxembourg and ensures that they are carried out based on international standards.
Thanks to this close partnership, the CHL and CRP-Santé have achieved a high level of excellence and are actively collaborating on signature international clinical research projects.
Within this context, the CHL and CIEC CRP-Santé participated in an international study, the results of which have just been published in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), one of the largest references for the medical community distributed in over 120 countries.
The two-year study carried out under the supervision of the European Medical Association (EMA) included 343 participants (men and women aged 18 years or older) from approximately 170 research centres around the world, including the CHL in collaboration with CEIC CRP-Santé.
Its objective was to assess whether a new experimental drug, “Crizotinib”, could be used to further delay the development of a certain type of lung cancer compared with the use of the chemotherapy drugs that are currently available on the market. The points analysed in the participants included survival time, quality of life and the presence of side effects.
At the CHL, principal investigator Dr Guy Berchem and co-investigator Dr Martina Degeorgis led the study. Dr Anna Chioti, head of the CIEC, and Mrs Myriam Alexandre, Senior Clinical Research Associate (CRA) at the CIEC, supervised the project for CRP-Santé.
The publication of this article by a journal as prestigious as the NEJM underscores the top level of the study, the results of which will have an impact on some of the recommendations that the EMA will formalise in the near future. As far as the CHL is concerned, research is a key element in the continuous improvement of the quality of care. As part of this very precise study, patients selected for the CHL were able to benefit from the new “Crizotinib” drug therapy with, to date, a disappearance of brain metastases and a sharp increase in quality of life.