Clinical trials offer the best method to quantify benefits of treatment, ultimately improving breast cancer treatment for patients overall. What a clinical trial is, trial advantages and tradeoffs, and how to enroll in a trial are often not well understood by breast cancer patients. By law, all clinical trials must include safeguards to protect patients. Trials must be reviewed by both the sponsoring institutions and the medical community for patient safety and scientific merit. Participants in a clinical trial must give their informed consent based on extensive, understandable information and explanation, and may withdraw from a trial at anytime.
Patient information is kept strictly confidential.
Most health plans do not cover experimental treatments or the associated doctor and hospital costs. The NCI's PDQ database, updated monthly, offers extensive information on treatment trials.