Clinical trials are at the heart of evidence based medicine and offer an organized, scientific way of producing the best evidence for the best practices. In fact, studies have shown that patients are likely to receive better care if they are enrolled in a clinical trial. The truth of the matter is that many patients participating in cancer clinical trials have failed standard therapy, and treatment received in a trial can represent a patient s best, or sometimes last hope of effective therapy. Cancer clinical trials are designed to compare an investigational therapy to the standard treatment regimen. Unlike other fields, placebo-controlled trials in cancer research are extremely rare, and are only used if there is no known treatment available.
Clinical trials provide one of the safest care environments for cancer patients.
As such, they review, approve, and oversee all aspects of clinical trials. Beyond these checks and balances, research institutions are required to obtain informed consent from every cancer clinical trial participant. Obtaining informed consent requires that the patient be briefed on all aspects of the clinical trial, including the risks involved, before agreeing to participate. Patients have a right to know and understand the type of therapy they will receive, the side effects they may experience as a result of the therapy, their role as a participant, the fact that they may leave the trial at any time, and that they will be removed from the trial if there are adverse effects from the therapy. These safeguards are in place specifically to protect patients enrolled in cancer clinical trials.