Overview of clinical trials

Clinical trials may be carried out to:

• test new treatments, such as new chemotherapy drugs, gene therapy or cancer vaccines
• look at new combinations of existing treatments, or change the way they are given, in order to make them more effective or to reduce side effects
• compare the effectiveness of drugs used for symptom control
• see which treatments are the most cost-effective
• find out how cancer treatments work.

Trials are the only reliable way to find out if a different operation, or type of chemotherapy or radiotherapy, is better than what is already available. If experts already knew that the new treatment they were proposing was an improvement on the standard treatment, there would be no need for a clinical trial and you would be offered it routinely as part of your care.

Research has found that people receiving treatment within clinical trials tend to do better than similar patients treated outside trials. This does not mean that the trial treatments are always better. It is probably because hospitals that carry out trials have access to good equipment and follow precise guidelines when giving treatment. If you are asked to go into a trial you will usually be carefully monitored, too. However, you should never feel that you have to enter into a clinical trial.

If you enter a trial you will not automatically get the new treatment being tested. You will, however, be helping to improve the general understanding of cancer and the best way to treat it.

You should only agree to take part in a trial if you are entirely happy with what you are being asked to do. It is important to realise that you can leave the trial at any time, without giving a reason, if you change your mind. However, if you are having a new treatment as part of the trial you may not be able to continue having that treatment if you leave the trial.

By reading and understanding more about clinical trials now – with time to think about all the issues – we hope that you will feel happier and more confident in your decision, whether or not you agree to take part.

The UK Government and Health Departments have recognised the benefits of clinical trials for patients. The National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI), a partnership of Health Departments, the Medical Research Council and major cancer charities, has been set up. In England, a National Cancer Research Network has been created that provides support for doctors and nurses carrying out clinical trials in hospitals and hospices and the community. In Wales there is the Wales Cancer Trials Network and in Scotland the Scottish Cancer Therapy Network.