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A cancer clinical trial is a way of testing new approaches and how well they work in cancer
patients.
Standard of care is a treatment that experts have looked at and agree is appropriate, accepted,
and well used to treat a particular type of cancer.
So in clinical trials, a new drug is usually tested against the standard treatment or the
standard of care.
I think there are three reasons that people should consider clinical trials as a treatment
option.
One, because it may help them find a more effective treatment for preventing the recurrence
of their cancer or for treating their cancer.
Two, because it's a way of helping future cancer patients.
In fact, your children or your grandchilden may benefit from the fact that you participated
in a clinical trial.
And three, because in a clinical trial, they monitor your care very carefully according
to a written protocol.
So every test, every procedure, every dose of drug is provided to you according to a
written plan and good clinical practice guidelines.
I think it's important for a patient to consider talking to their doctor about clinical trials
at the beginning of the treatment decision-making process, because for all of us who have had
cancer, making that first treatment decision is very stressful and very hard to revisit.
So if it isn't included in your beginning of your process, you probably won't want to
revisit it, and therefore may lose the opportunity of taking a treatment that might be better
for you.
I think it's important for patients to ask their doctors questions, and to have them
written on a sheet of paper, and to bring someone with them who can be their note taker.
It's a very stressful time.
It's very easy to be distracted when you're having the conversation, so to have somebody
to be able to write down those answers and be able to discuss them with you later is
exceedingly important.
I think it's important to ask your physician when looking at clinical trials, "What are
the risks and benefits?"
And it's important to weigh those risks and those benefits.
And it's important to ask when you look at the risks, because many of those risks will
be side effects of the treatment, to find out are there some ways that they are going
to mitigate or help you deal with those side effects, and what types of side effects are
they?
Are they common?
Are they uncommon?
Are they actually very rare?
And if then you can have a better idea of what the risk benefit trade-off is for you.
It's important for patients to find good questions to ask their doctor during their treatment
decision-making discussions.
And there are a number of websites that have wonderful information available and good questions
that you can use.
The ASCO website Cancer.Net, the National Cancer Institute, cancer.gov, and the Coalition
of Cancer Cooperative Groups, cancertrialshelp.org, all are valuable and trusted resources.
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