Clinical trials are research studies that determine whether new drugs including preventive agents treatments or medical devices are safe and effective. They also can study whether current drugs, treatments and devices can be used in a different way, such as for the prevention of certain cancers.
Clinical trials are important to cancer patients for a number of reasons.
On an individual level, those who participate often choose to do so because they offer new treatment options for recently diagnosed patients. Many understand that being treated on a clinical trial means that they will get the very best quality care available. Some do so in the hopes of preventing cancer. Others do so because traditional treatments have not been working for them and clinical trials offer hope for improving existing treatment and for increasing disease-free survival time. Clinical trials also offer an opportunity to contribute to a research effort that may help others.