Clinical trials are carefully controlled research studies conducted with actual patients.
These studies test the safety and potential benefits of new treatments and the effectiveness of new ways to diagnose or prevent disease, and identify risks of a specific drug or treatment that may not yet be known. Clinical trials have been responsible for many advances in breast cancer treatment, such as lumpectomy, the use of tamoxifen, and screening mammography. Laboratory research helps identify therapies which could benefit breast cancer patients. But treatments that seem to work well on animals in the lab do not always work as well for people. That is why clinical trials are needed - to determine the safety and effectiveness of a treatment in human patients.