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(Date reviewed: 12/23/2003) - Only you can make the decision about whether or
not to participate in a clinical trial. Before you make your decision, you
should:
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learn as much as possible about your disease and the trials that are available
to you. See the Cancer Information
section of this Web site for general cancer information. Read the
User's Guide for PDQ Clinical Trials Search
for guidance on how to find current clinical trials that might be appropriate
for you; the PDQ database includes the National Cancer Institute's list of
ongoing cancer clinical trials.
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Then, talk about this information and how you feel about it with your doctor
and/or nurse, family members and friends to help you determine what is right
for you.
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Potential benefits include:
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Health care provided by leading physicians in the field of cancer research.
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Access to new drugs and interventions before they are widely available.
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Close monitoring of your health care and any side effects.
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A more active role in your own health care.
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If the approach being studied is found to be helpful, you may be among the
first to benefit.
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An opportunity to make a valuable contribution to cancer research.
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The potential risks include:
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New drugs and procedures may have side effects or risks unknown to the doctors.
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New drugs and procedures may be ineffective, or less effective, than current
approaches.
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Even if a new approach has benefits, it may not work for you.
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The government has a system designed to protect human research subjects. Before
a government-funded clinical trial can begin, the trial plan (also called a
protocol) must be approved. During the
trial, review committees make sure that the plan is being followed and
participants are being protected.
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Regulations require the researchers performing studies to thoroughly inform
patients about a study's treatments and tests and their possible benefits and
risks before a patient decides whether or not to participate in any study. This
process is called informed consent.
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Informed consent is a process in which you learn the key facts about a clinical
trial before you decide whether or not to participate. In addition to talking
about these facts with the research doctor or nurse, they will be included in a
written consent form that you can take home to read and discuss. The consent
form will include details about:
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the study approach
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the intervention given in the trial
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the possible risks and benefits
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the tests you may have
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Don't hesitate to ask questions until you have all the information you need
(see
Participating in a Trial: Questions to Ask Your Doctor). While
informed consent begins before you agree to participate in a trial, you should
feel free to ask the health-care team any questions you have at any point.
Informed consent continues as long as you are in the study. You can change your
mind and leave the study whenever you want -- before the study starts or at any
time during the study or follow-up period.
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In treatment trials involving people who have cancer, placebos
("dummy" pills that contain no active ingredient) are very rarely
used. Many treatment trials are designed to compare a new treatment with a
standard treatment, which is the best treatment currently known for a cancer
based on results of past research. In these studies, patients are randomly
assigned to one group or another. When no standard treatment exists for a
cancer, a study may compare a new treatment with a placebo. However, you will
be told about this possibility during informed consent, before you decide
whether or not to take part in the study.
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If you decide to participate in a clinical trial, you will work with a research
team. Team members may include doctors, nurses, social workers, dieticians, and
other health care professionals. They will provide your care, monitor your
health carefully, and give you specific instructions about the study.
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Participating in a trial may mean that you might have more tests and doctor
visits than you would if you weren't in the study. Team members also may
continue to stay in contact with you after the trial ends. To make the trial
results as reliable as possible, it is important for participants to follow the
research team's instructions. That means having all doctor visits and tests,
taking medicines on time, and completing logs or answering questionnaires.
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