What Are Clinical Trials?
Only a small number of drugs developed in the laboratory complete the full clinical development program to be deemed safe and effective enough for the Food and Drug Administration to approve them - a process that may take close to a decade. But before FDA approval, as series of clinical trials must provide reliable data on the treatment's safety and potential benefit.
Some clinical trials involve the use of established, approved drugs used in different strengths or for a longer or shorter time period. Other trials may involve new combinations of drugs or combining drugs with radiation therapy.
Although the number of patients enrolling in clinical trials has increased in the past decade, the increase in new treatments being developed mean more patients are needed to test new therapies. Unfortunately, only about 4 percent of cancer patients participate in trials. Participation may provide a potential benefit to science and future patients, and the patient may have the benefit of a potentially better therapy. You can discuss with your physician whether or not there is a clinical trial that might benefit you. Online services, such as www.clinicaltrials.gov and www.cancer.gov provide information on researching and joining a trial, and provide search engines to find open trials.