Developing new treatments through clinical trials

Clinical trials are research studies that involve people. Franciscan St. Francis Health is a leader in these studies that test new ways to prevent, detect, diagnose or treat diseases. People who take part in cancer clinical trials have an opportunity to contribute to scientists’ knowledge about cancer and to help in the development of improved cancer treatments.

Benefits  

Our clinical trials are well-designed and well-executed giving trial participants:

• Access to promising investigational interventions that are generally not available outside of a clinical trial
• An intervention that may be more effective than standard therapy - and if it is more effective - trial participants may be the first to benefit for it
• An opportunity to help other people who need cancer treatment in the future
• The ability to help scientists learn more about cancer (e.g., how it grows, how it acts, and waht influences its growth and spread)

There are risks to clinical trial. The investigational intervention being studied may not be better than standard therapy, or it may have harmful side effects that doctors do not expect or that are worse than those associated with standard therapy. Trial participants may be required to make more visits to the doctor than they would if they were not in a clinical trial and/or may need to travel farther for those visits.

Choosing to participate in a clinical trial is an important personal decision. It is often helpful to talk to a physician, family members or friends about deciding to join a trial. Cancer clinical trials are especially important because, in the absence of high cure rates, nearly all therapeutic approaches are developmental in nature. After identifying some trial options, the next step is to contact the study research staff and ask questions about specific trials. People should know as much as possible about the clinical trial and feel comfortable asking the members of the health care team questions about it, the care expected while in a trial, and the cost of the trial.