What They Mean for You Clinical trials are studies designed to identify new and better treatments for diseases.
Some trials test new drugs, drug dosages or combinations of drugs.
Others test new methods of giving treatment, lifestyle changes that may prevent the disease from occurring, therapies that may speed recovery, or measures to increase patients' comfort and quality of life during and after treatment. Patients enrolled in clinical trials are the first to receive promising new drugs and treatments. In some cases, the treatment may be the patient's best chance for survival. However, clinical trials are not risk-free. Though the therapies are first tested on laboratory animals before being offered to humans, animal studies do not always accurately predict the type and extent of side effects that will occur in humans.