Clinical trials of new cancer treatments are conducted in steps called phases, which successively determine whether the treatment is safe, effective, better than present treatments, and not harmful when used in the general population. Though cancer in children is relatively uncommon, some 81 percent of children with cancer seen at the Pediatric Oncology Group's member institutions in 1997 were enrolled in clinical trials. In contrast, the National Cancer Institute estimates that less than 5 percent of adults with cancer participate in clinical trials. Clinical trials, in one form or another, have occurred for perhaps thousands of years. In recent decades, however, ethics have been formalized and codes of rules adopted to prevent the exploitation of patients.
Clinical trials constitute a significant part of the rapidly increasing cost of drug development.
If your insurance company won't pay the routine medical costs involved in clinical trials, there are alternative funding sources as well as agencies that can help you with expenses for travel to distant clinical trials. The Administration of Clinical Trials. If you are considering a clinical trial, it is important to understand who manages it and what roles various participants have in running trials. Knowing the implications of statements in a clinical trial's protocol document can help you decide whether you want to participate. Here's what to look for as well as questions to ask.