If your treatment does not seem to be helping, the medical doctor can decide to take you off the trial. Also, you can decide to leave the trial at any time. If you leave the trial for any reason, your continued care will not be jeopardized. Many individuals participating in clinical trials can receive their care in the same places where standard cancer treatments are given - cancer centers, hospitals, clinics, and doctors' offices. From clinical trials, researchers learn which approaches are most effective.
Participants take part in clinical trials for many reasons.
Usually, they hope for a cure and for a way to contribute to a research effort that may help others. Also, participants in a clinical trial are among the first to receive the new treatments before they are widely available. The care they receive is always the best available. Informed consent is a key part of a good trial and is required in studies that are federally regulated or funded, as well as those governed by state laws. Informed consent means that as a participant, you are given information that allows you to understand what is involved in the trial, including its potential benefits and risks, so you can then freely decide whether to take part.