Grand Junction, Colo (KKCO)-It can take years for new cancer fighting drugs to reach the public but right here in Grand Junction St. Mary’s hospital is bridging that gap, getting cutting edge medicine into the hands of the people who need it the most.
It happens through clinical trials. These are second and third stage tests of promising new drugs before they are approved by the FDA. These trials provide researchers with valuable information and patients with hope for a better future.

Nestled on Colorado’s Western Slope, St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction is on the leading lines of the fight against cancer. Mary Vaughn, St. Mary’s clinical research coordinator says, "I think there is true hope for the future of cancer treatment."

A self proclaimed research princess, Vaughn works first hand with phase II and phase II trials of new cancer fighting drugs. Vaughn says, "The only way we get new drugs on the market to fight things like cancer, is through research."

Partnering with UCLA and the University of Colorado, St. Mary’s is now the only hospital in Colorado to test a new drug used to fight a rare form of breast cancer. "This new drug is a parp inhibitor and it prevents cancer cells from repairing their DNA," says Vaughn.
Vaughn goes on to say, hospitals around the state are now referring patients to St. Mary’s in hopes of participating in this trial. "This is very exciting and its right here in Grand Junction and its giving hope to these women with rare diseases like triple receptor negative breast cancer," she says.

Clinical trials are mainly used to test a new drug’s effectiveness, this particular drug is on the FDA's approval fast track but even if a new treatment turns out to be less than expected it still serves a purpose. Vaughn says, "So even negative findings help advance the understanding of cancer treatment."

At the end of the day Vaughn says the more clinical trials the hospital can partake in the better.
She says, "We touch the future when we participate in clinical trials we are definitely making the world a better place for future generations and for this generation." News more likely delivered from a queen of clinical research than a princess.

This Friday, September 10th, celebrities George Clooney, Will Smith, Denzel Washington, Stevie Wonder and more will come together to raise money for cancer research. The "Stand Up to Cancer" event will air right here on KKCO 11News at 7 pm. In 2008 the event helped raise more than 100 million dollars.