Absolutely not. Clinical trial participants are either given the “standard of care,” which is the best treatment available for her type of ovarian cancer, or receive the new treatment that is being tested. Placebos may be used in situations where the new treatment being tested is an “add on” to the standard of care or if there is no standard of care. For example, there are clinical trials that look at whether extra chemotherapy after the standard first-line course of treatment improves women’s health. In this kind of trial, a placebo would be used, but all women receive the best treatment available first. In addition to that standard treatment, some women would receive placebos and others would get additional chemotherapy.