Clinical
Trials: Making progress in the field of cancer
What are clinical trials and why are they important?
Clinical trials (also called clinical studies)
are research studies conducted with people who volunteer
to take part in a study to find better ways to prevent,
screen for, diagnose, or treat a disease.
Each study answers questions and tries to find better
ways to prevent, screen for, diagnose, or treat a disease.
People who take part in cancer clinical trials have an
opportunity to contribute to the knowledge of, and progress
against, cancer. They also receive innovative care from
experts.
If more people enroll in trials, information about possible
beneficial treatments, supportive care, prevention, screening,
and diagnostic procedures can be discovered more quickly.
A lot of progress has been made in the cancer field due
to valuable information from clinical trials. Many cancer
treatments we have today are based on what we learned
from clinical trials.
Why do more ethnic minorities need to participate?
To make research studies more representative
of various populations, all groups including ethnic
minorities are needed to participate.
With more ethnic minority participation in studies,
we can obtain helpful information to better understand
minority health. The National Cancer Institute (NCI)
is working with partner organizations to increase awareness
and knowledge about clinical trials using the Clinical
Trials Education Series (CTES).
What are the types of cancer clinical trials?
There are many types of cancer clinical
trials: treatment, supportive care/quality of life,
prevention, early detection/screening, and diagnostic.
For example, treatment trials are conducted with people
who have cancer. These trials test many types of treatments,
new approaches to treatment, or new combinations of treatments.
Learn more about other types of trials from NCI’s
Cancer Clinical Trials Fact Sheet.
What are the rights and protection of clinical trial
participants?
Strict guidelines are in place to ensure
that these volunteers are treated with respect.
Patient permission is required to enroll in a clinical
trial. All trials are approved by a medical review board
and are continuously monitored. A participant has the
right to withdraw from a trial at any time. The participant
may also discuss further treatment options with the study
physician or be referred back to a primary care provider
for standard care.
How to find more about cancer clinical trials?
Stanford Cancer Center Resources
National Cancer Institute (NCI) Resources
- NCI Cancer Clinical Trials Website at www.cancer.gov
- NCI Cancer Clinical Trials Fact Sheet
- NCI Cancer Information Service (CIS): Trained
information specialists can answer your questions about
cancer and provide print and electronic NCI publications.
Service is available in English and Spanish on weekdays
from 9a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Call toll free at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237)
or 1-800-332-8615 (TTY for the hearing and speech impaired).
To get live, online assistance from an NCI Information
Specialist, visit LiveHelp.
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