While helping to evaluate the effectiveness of new treatment interventions, clinical trial participants

• Play an active role in their health care.

• Gain access to and benefit from new drug treatments.

• Obtain expert medical care by an extended team of health care providers.

• Help other patients by contributing to improved understanding of how to treat cancer.

With the advancement of medical therapy, clinical trials may also have risks.  Patients will not know whether they are receiving experimental drug or standard treatment, may experience side effects that cannot be predicted, and may not have a positive effect on their disease state. 

Your physician can discuss with you the pros and cons of clinical trial participation based on current data regarding the type and stage of your disease and by analyzing treatment outcomes of currently approved therapies versus the science of research initiatives.