Many cancer patients are unaware that they can participate in clinical trials and those who do have significant misconceptions about the quality of care they will receive. That is why the Cancer Research Foundation of America joined a coalition of concerned organizations to help increase participation in clinical trials. A clinical trial is a research study of a new treatment for a disease, or a new way to prevent a disease.
Clinical trials are important to all current and future cancer patients.
They are the only way to translate the extraordinary breakthroughs made in laboratories around the country into new, more effective preventives and treatments for patients. In addition to testing the validity of new treatments, clinical trials are also a critical step in the development of both new ways to detect cancer and to prevent the disease. Research of new chemopreventives, such as drugs and dietary interventions, are subject to the same rigorous standards that ultimately result in clinical trials on groups of people at high risk. And clinical trials help to determine the safety, effectiveness and financial feasibility of the widespread use of new tools for the early detection of cancer. Despite their importance, patient enrollment in clinical trials remains low.