Clinical trials are types of studies that help researchers find out how safe and effective medical treatments or other interventions are. These studies can help them find new ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat health conditions such as cancer.
A cancer clinical trial may study any of the following interventions:
- a new approach to preventing, screening for, or diagnosing cancer
- a new treatment or combination of treatments for cancer, such as:
- chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or targeted therapy drugs
- surgical procedures, techniques, or tools
- radiation therapy methods
- a new way to support behavioral change to prevent or manage cancer
- a new supportive care approach to improve quality of life in people with cancer
Most cancer clinical trials focus on a specific type of cancer or specific risk factors for cancer.
Participating in a cancer clinical trial might allow you to get medical care that you wouldn’t get outside the study. It also allows researchers to learn from your experiences, which may help them find new ways to support people who have cancer or have risk factors for cancer.
If you receive an experimental treatment or another intervention in a clinical trial, it may or may not help manage your condition. You might develop side effects or have an adverse (negative) reaction to the intervention.
When participating in a clinical trial, you may be asked to attend more health checkups, get more medical tests, or spend more time on cancer care-related activities than you otherwise would.
Read on to learn more about the potential pros and cons of taking part in a trial.
Here are some of the potential benefits of taking part in a cancer clinical trial.
Access to cutting-edge treatments
Some clinical trials focus on experimental treatments or other interventions that aren’t widely available outside of those studies. Taking part in a trial may allow you to get one of those treatments.
Clinical trials for cancer treatments determine whether new treatments are equally as effective or more effective than current treatments.
It’s possible that the experimental treatment will be safer or more effective than the standard treatments that are available. It’s also possible that the experimental treatment will be equally or less safe or effective than standard treatments.
Depending on the specific type of clinical trial, all the study participants might get the experimental treatment, or only some might. Participants who don’t receive the experimental treatment might be assigned to a control group that receives the current standard treatment or similar care. The standard treatment is what most people would get outside the study.
Sometimes members of the control group may get a placebo or sham treatment, which resembles a real treatment but isn’t one. However, placebo and sham treatments are rarely used in cancer clinical trials. The research team will let you know ahead of time whether the study will involve the use of a placebo or sham treatment.
Talk with the research team to learn what types of treatments or other interventions you might receive during the clinical trial. Ask whether you’ll know which treatment you’re getting.
Clinical trials are sometimes blinded, which means the participants don’t know whether they’re getting the experimental treatment or they’re in the control group.
Enhanced medical attention
Taking part in a clinical trial might mean getting more medical attention.
Research teams that conduct cancer clinical trials typically include cancer doctors or other cancer care professionals. If you decide to take part in a clinical trial, those professionals will carefully monitor your condition for signs of changes.
Members of the research team may schedule more checkups or order more medical tests than you’d get outside the study. This might help them find and address changes in your condition early.
You’ll also have opportunities to talk with members of the research team about your condition. This might help you get more information or support to manage it.
If you’re currently getting cancer care from professionals who are not involved in the study, ask whether you’ll continue to get care from them during the study.
Contributions to medical advancement
Participating in a cancer clinical trial allows researchers to learn from your condition and experiences, which may help them improve cancer care for the wider community.
It’s important for clinical trials to involve diverse samples of people, including people of different ages, sexes, races, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds. This helps researchers learn how cancer interventions might affect various populations, which is important for identifying and limiting inequities in cancer care.
Below are some of the potential risks or burdens of taking part in a clinical trial.
If you decide to take part in a cancer clinical trial, there’s no guarantee that you’ll get safer or more effective medical care than you otherwise would.
You might get an experimental treatment that the researchers learn is equally or less safe or effective than the treatment you’d get outside the study. Or you might be assigned to the control group and receive similar treatment to what you’d get outside the study.
Cancer treatments, medical tests, and other interventions may cause unwanted side effects or adverse reactions.
You might develop side effects or reactions to a treatment or other intervention that you receive during a clinical trial. One of the goals of clinical trials is to identify the side effects and reactions that an intervention might cause.
Talk with members of the research team to learn about the side effects and adverse reactions that you might experience. They can help you understand the known risks of the intervention, based on past research in animals or humans. The intervention might also have some risks that the research team doesn’t yet know about.
Let the research team know if you think you might be experiencing a side effect or adverse reaction or if you notice any changes in your health.
Time and financial requirements
You might need to attend more appointments or clinic visits, get more medical tests, or receive more cancer care in a clinical trial than you would outside the trial.
The research team might also ask you to fill out surveys or questionnaires, take part in focus groups or interviews, or share information with them in other ways.
These tasks may take up more of your time than you’d spend on cancer care outside of the clinical trial. In some cases, you might need to travel or take time off from work or child care.
Talk with the research team to learn how much time you’ll be asked to spend on the trial, as well as whether there are financial costs associated with participating. Ask whether the trial funder will cover costs related to the care you receive, travel costs, or other expenses. You can also confirm whether the trial funder will charge your medical insurance.
Making an informed decision
It’s important to learn what a cancer clinical trial will involve before you decide whether to take part. You can learn more about the trial by talking with members of the research team, as well as your doctor or members of your cancer care team.
The research team will share information about the trial, including:
- the purpose and goals of the trial
- the potential benefits and risks of participating
- what medical care or other procedures you would receive during the trial
- what information the researchers would collect and how they’d use it
- whether there would be financial costs or payments involved in participating
- the potential risks and how they plan to monitor and manage these during the trial
- how much time your participation would take
Members of the research team can also help you learn whether you meet the eligibility criteria, which are the rules that researchers set for who can take part in a clinical trial.
They should share this information before you decide whether to take part in the trial. Let them know if you don’t understand any information they share or if you have any questions.
The potential pros and cons of taking part in a clinical trial may vary depending on your health needs and goals and the design of the trial.
You can talk with members of your cancer care team to find out whether they think a clinical trial might be a good fit for you. They can help you understand the information you get from the research team and how it relates to your individual needs and goals.
Cancer clinical trials help researchers find the safest and most effective ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat various types of cancer.
Your doctor or other members of your cancer care team might encourage you to take part in a clinical trial if they think you could benefit from a treatment or other intervention that the researchers are studying.
Participants in clinical trials sometimes receive experimental treatments that might be safer or more effective than the standard treatments that are currently available.
However, it’s also possible that an experimental treatment or other intervention will be equally or less safe or effective than standard treatments.
You can talk with members of the research team and your cancer care team to learn more about the potential benefits and risks of taking part in a clinical trial, including the risk of side effects and adverse reactions to the treatment or intervention being studied.
Ask how much time your participation in the trial will take, as well as whether there are any costs or payments for participating. The trial funder might cover some or all of the costs of the cancer care you receive in the trial. In some cases, they might also cover travel costs or other trial-related expenses.