Clinical trials are research studies conducted with human patients, used to discover improvements in prevention, diagnosis or treatment options for a disease, such as sarcoma. They are part of a meticulous research process involving patients receiving a new treatment (a new drug, new approach to surgery or radiation therapy, or new combination of treatments) that already has been researched in successful laboratory and or animal studies (and some may even study drugs or procedures that have already been approved by the FDA in a different light). Most of the widely accepted medicines and treatments being used by today’s medical experts are based on the results of previous clinical trials.
It is often thought that clinical trials are a last resort, but they may in fact be a good way to begin your treatment and receive great care from the very start. Of course, certain trials may not be right for all patients, based on eligibility criteria (requirements that patients must meet before they can participate - such as age, gender, subtype and stage of cancer, previous treatments, and other medical conditions) or availability. But if you find a trial that is right for you, you will have access to cutting edge medicine and health experts, and constant monitoring of your progress. Other benefits from participating in a clinical trial include the fact that some of your medical care and tests may be paid for by the trial’s sponsor (details are trial specific, click here for more information).
Additionally, y our participation in clinical trials may contribute to the search for ways to prevent, detect, or treat the disease. As a direct result of patients' participation in past clinical trials, people with cancer are today living longer. All patients in clinical trials are volunteers and thus can stop their participation in the trial at any time.
However, there is no guarantee that a new treatment being tested will yield good results. New treatments may also have unknown risks, so before you make this decision, you should think about it carefully, considering all other possible treatment choices, and communicate with your doctor to help decide if this is truly the best option. If you are offered a clinical trial as a treatment option, you will go through a process called informed consent, in which you will learn about the specific trial, including information about its logistics and design. |
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 Currently, there are hundreds of ongoing clinical trials in the United States. Although clinical trials are an important component of cancer care and are crucial for improving cancer treatment, a very small percentage of cancer patients currently participate in clinical trials because they are uninterested or unaware that they exist, have difficulty finding an appropriate clinical trial that may be of benefit to them, or are ineligible to participate in a clinical trial because of prior treatment interventions.
It is sometimes important to decide whether or not to participate in a clinical trial before receiving any treatment from a physician. This is because, once treatment has been initiated, this may exclude patients from participating in a trial. |
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