Medical Research Changes Lives
Help Make a Difference by Participating in a Clinical Trial REASONS OUR PATIENTS JOIN: • They want access to the most cutting edge, newest treatments available to fight their cancer.
• They want to contribute to science and discovery to help the next generations of cancer patients.
• They like the close monitoring of their cancer, their treatments, and side effects.
• They want to make sure that researchers are including people from their communities in studies so that we can know how new treatments work for everyone
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CALL: Yale Cancer Center Clinical Trials Office (203) 785-5702 smilowcancerhospital.org
Smilow Cancer Hospital
Introduction to Clinical Trials What Are Clinical Trials ?
Clinical trials are research studies that involve patient volunteers and allow healthcare providers and patients access to the latest medicines and treatments before they are approved for wider use. These studies answer important questions such as, “What are the side effects of a medicine?” or “Which treatment is better?” All medicines that are currently approved were first available to patients through clinical trials. Many new treatments are designed based on what has worked in the past, in efforts to improve care. You may be interested in or asked if you’d like to enter a trial and it is important to learn as much as possible about the trial. Your doctor will explain the trial you are eligible to participate in; please ask as many questions as you would like so you fully understand the trial before deciding to participate. Clinical trials may help researchers find new ways to treat, diagnose, and prevent cancer, and manage the symptoms of cancer or the side effects from cancer treatment. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves all trials in different phases before patients can be treated, and patients are closely monitored throughout all phases.
PHASES OF A CLINICAL TRIAL INCLUDE:
smilowcancerhospital.org | Follow us on:
PHASE 1 (also known as Early Phase) • Phase 1 trials test new treatments by themselves or in combination for the first time in human volunteers. Only small numbers of volunteers join these trials. • The purpose of these trials is to assess the safety of the new treatment, find the right amount of medicine to give, and determine how it should be given (when and how). • Phase 1 trials find out important pieces of information including how the new treatment interacts with the body and fights cancer. PHASE 2 • If the goals of a Phase 1 trial are met, a Phase 2 clinical trial is often done to further decide if the new treatment is effective for fighting certain types of cancer. • As in a Phase 1 trial, a Phase 2 clinical trial continues to look for any side effects of the treatment.