Understanding and Finding Clinical Trials

• Clinical trials are research studies that involve people, and test new medications or medical equipment to find out if they are safe and effective for patients. 

• The information gained from clinical trials is used by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) to approve new drugs and devices for patients. 

• Patients who participate in clinical trials can benefit from new treatments, and help improve cancer treatments for future patients. 

• All clinical trials go through a rigorous review process to make certain the research is valuable, the treatment has a good liklihood of benefitting patients, and most importantly, is safe. WebMD has great information regarding what is and what is not FDA approved.

• The National Institutes of Health (NIH)  has an excellent website that provides general information about clinical trials.

• Another useful website for finding clinical trials is through the National Cancer Institute.

• Nearly all of the standard cancer treatments used today are based on the results of clinical trials. 

Last Updated on 2/9/2012 8:44:29 PM