What are clinical trials?

Clinical trials are medical research trials involving patients that are carried out to try and find new and better treatments. Patients take part in trials in all areas of medicine, not just in cancer and not just to test treatment. For example, a clinical trial might be used to compare different ways of diagnosing an illness, or it might test techniques for preventing a particular cancer. Some trials also include a study of the psychological (affecting the mind) effects and financial impact of the treatment, on both patients and their carers (for example, whether someone has to take time off work to look after you).

At the present time only about 1 in 9 cancer patients take part in clinical trials. If more patients were involved in clinical trials, cancer research would be able to move forward more quickly. Trials are more commonly used with some cancers than with others.