Understanding Oncology: Advancing Cancer Care

While some clinical trials may focus on more advanced cancers, many trials are open to patients at various stages of their cancer. Each study has rules about who can take part. For example, only patients in a certain age group or those who have a certain type of tumor may be able to join.

Your treatment history will be considered as part of the trial enrollment process. Sometimes researchers want participants to keep taking their current treatments during a clinical trial. Other times, participants may need to stop their current treatments for a while. It's important to discuss your current treatment and the trial's requirements with your healthcare team to understand the best course of action for your individual situation. If the investigational treatment doesn't work, you can usually go back to your original treatment plan. The trial staff will discuss next steps with you when you finish or leave the trial.

In cancer clinical trials, a placebo is only used if there is no other treatment for that type of cancer. This helps compare an investigational treatment to the placebo. Placebos are rarely used in cancer trials because the best available treatment, called the “standard of care”, is usually given instead.

Your doctor may not know about all the opportunities for clinical trials that are available to you. Talk to your doctor or other medical provider about clinical trial information that you find. They can help you decide if a clinical trial is right for you. If you do not find any options on this website, we recommend you visit an online public registry website like clinicaltrials.gov to see a wide variety of available clinical trials.