Clinical Trials Unit

Frequently Asked Questions

Deciding whether or not to participate in a clinical trial/study is a difficult decision to make. To assist you, we have compiled a list of frequently asked questions and answers that may provide you with the information you need to make this important decision. The information below has been borrowed from the National Institutes of Health's cancer.gov website.

How is the research carried out?

• Each clinical trial has an action plan (protocol) that explains how it will work.
• Each study enrolls people who are alike in key ways.
• Cancer clinical trials include research at three different phases
  • Phase I trials are the first step in testing a new treatment in humans. In these studies, researchers try to find the best dose to give a new treatment. They also try to find out if and how the treatment can be given safely and they watch for any harmful side effects.
  • Phase II trials focus on learning whether the new treatment has an anticancer effect.
  • Phase III trials compare a new treatment to one or more other treatments.
• In Phase III trials, people are assigned at random to receive either the new treatment or the standard treatment.

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