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Cancer Clinical Trials: Eligibility, Process, and Risks
By Raveena M Prakash
Cancer clinical trials are research studies that aim to find new and better ways to treat cancer. While participating in a cancer clinical trial, many cancer patients can access new technologies which potentially contribute to advances in cancer treatment that will benefit in the future. Before enrolling in a cancer clinical trial, it’s essential to understand the eligibility criteria, the process, and the potential risks involved.
In this blog, we’ll delve more into the key aspects to help you make an informed decision about cancer clinical trials!
What are cancer clinical trials?
Cancer clinical trials are studies that evaluate the effectiveness of new treatments, drugs, or equipment techniques for cancer. Patients can understand different ways to improve the current or existing treatments to identify new cancer screening techniques. All of these trials are conducted in new phases. Each phase is designed to answer specific questions about treatment safety, and its dosage, side effects, and treatment effectiveness.
Eligibility for clinical trials
Eligibility factors for cancer clinical trials can vary depending on the trial’s purpose. While there are few factors, these may include:
- Cancer type and stage: Many trials are focused on specific types of cancer (e.g., breast cancer, leukemia, lung cancer), and patients have a diagnosis of these diseases in stages. Some trials also have specific requirements regarding the cancer’s stage. For example, early stage or advanced stage.
- Treatment history: Clinical trials might require participants to have received certain treatments or to have failed conventional treatments.
- Age and gender: Some trials are designed to include participants of a specific age or gender group. Especially if the treatment is thought to have different effects on different groups.
- Patient Health condition: Participants might need to meet certain criteria for participating in clinical trials. For example, patients need to have specific organ function (eg: kidney, liver) or a certain level of physical activity.
- Genetic markers: Some clinical trials target genetic mutations or specific molecular characteristics of a cancer. In such cases, patients might be required to have particular genetic mutations for eligibility.
What is the process of a clinical trial for cancer?
Here’s the process of cancer clinical trials involving a multi-step process that involves several steps. Including:
Initial consultation
Your oncologist or a clinical trial team coordinator will discuss the available trials with you. Having an open conversation can help to cover your diagnosis, treatment history, and whether you are a suitable candidate for a cancer trial or not.
If you are interested in a particular study or diagnosed with a rare cancer, the team will help you to determine your eligibility criteria.
Providing informed consent
Before starting your clinical trial, you will be requested to sign an informed consent document. This is an essential step where you are given detailed information about the trial, including its purpose, procedures, and potential benefits.
It’s your chance to ask more relevant questions and fully understand the process and what participation involves. The informed consent process ensures that you are aware of what’s happening during the trial and why your trial participation is voluntary.
Screening and tests
Once you give consent to participate, you are then required to undergo some screening tests. Some of these may include blood tests, imaging studies, and physical examinations to confirm that you are eligible for the trials. The screening ensures that the trial’s treatment is appropriate for you and that you can tolerate it.
Randomization in some cases
In some clinical trials, the participants are assigned to different treatment groups, for example, experimental treatment vs. standard treatment vs. placebo. In some cases, the randomization process helps to ensure that the results are not biased by the choice of treatment.
Treatments and result-monitoring
Once you get enrolled for these trials, you will begin receiving the treatment and being tested. Throughout the trial, you will be closely monitored by the medical team. This monitoring may include regular checkups, blood tests, imaging scans, and even assessments of your quality time.
Follow-up
After completing the trial treatments, follow-up appointments with doctors will be scheduled to track long-term treatment outcomes, side effects, and analysing the efficiency of treatments. This often helps the researcher to gather information and additional data about the treatments performance and how it compares to other available cancer therapies.
Risks and complications of clinical trials
Cancer trials offer various benefits of accessing new therapies, but they also come with some risks and challenges.
Including:
Side effects
Cancer clinical trials involve performing some experimental treatments, and there might be some hidden side effects. These side effects such as mild nausea and fatigue. However, there are some severe side effects like organ damage and life-threatening reactions. Some clinical trials aim to minimize these risks, these negative effects may not be fully understood until later phases of the trail.
Efficiency of treatments
Not all cancer trials lead to an important discovery or breakthrough all the time. These experimental treatments patients receive won’t work in every cancer case, or it could be less effective than standard cancer treatments. Additionally, there’s always a risk or side effects that treatment will not be beneficial as expected in the initial period of cancer diagnosis.
Placebo risks
In some clinical trials, a placebo might be used as a control treatment. It means you could receive non-active substances instead of the actual treatment. This is typically common in many cancer trials, it might delay the access to effective cancer treatments, especially if the treatment is testing any new cancer treatments.
Time consuming
If you are planning to participate in a cancer clinical trial, then remember it often requires more visits to the hospital for tests, assessments, and follow-ups. These can be heavily time-consuming and might disrupt your regular cancer treatment outcomes. These may add into your overall costs of clinical trials, as travel and accommodation and other expenses may also add up if the trial site is far from the patient's home.
Unexpected outcomes
Clinical cancer trials are generally designed to test newly designed cancer treatments. These can have some unpredictable treatment outcomes. Some of these trials could show some delays in the treatment results as the trial progresses or researchers analyze the data.
Consult Today
Cancer clinical trials are an important part of advancing cancer treatment, and they offer the potential for access to innovative therapies. If you or any loved ones are considering participating, it’s essential to understand the eligibility requirements, the process involved, and the potential risks and benefits.
Before enrolling in these trials, have an open conversation with your oncologists. It can provide guidance on whether a trial is a good fit for your cancer type and health condition. Additionally, participating in a clinical trial is a personal choice.
At Oncare, we offer premium-quality cancer treatments, including advanced cancer surgeries at an affordable price range with an experienced cancer specialist consultation.
If you or any loved ones of yours are diagnosed with cancer, then visit Oncare Cancer Center and book an appointment with our experienced cancer specialist today! Get an estimated cost of your cancer treatments today!
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some of the benefits of participating clinical trials, including:
- Access to new treatment
- Expert medical care
- Potential for better treatment outcomes
- Reduced costs
- More control over treatment
- Quality to life research
Here some of the potential risk of cancer clinical trials, including:
- Ineffective treatment
- Unknown side effects
- Extra time and cost
- Random or blinded treatment
- Financial burden to patients and family
- Placebo use
Cancer clinical trials are highly essential for finding, preventing, and treating cancer, often leading to improved therapies and a better quality of life for future patients.
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