Clinical Trials
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The National Cancer Institute was created in 1937 under President Roosevelt. The NCI supported research, training and provided a way of sharing information about cancer.
Clinical Trials in oncology are cancer treatments that test new treatments in cancer patients. Clinical trials test drugs or chemotherapy, new approaches to surgery, radiation therapy or a combination of these treatments. These studies are all done in an effort to obtain the best treatment. All new cancer treatments must be tested on humans and is done through clinical trials. Three phases are required before a treatment can be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). More than 25,000 individuals each year enroll in clinical trials through the National Cancer Institute.
- Phase I: This involves only a small number of people. The treatment is evaluated for safety, dose and effectiveness. If the results are good, the treatment moves on to the Phase II.
- Phase II: This trial tests a small amount of patients to see if the treatment works against a certain type of cancer. If it does, it moves on to the next phase or Phase III.
- Phase III: This clinical trial involves hundreds and sometimes thousands of patients. It compares the standard or known treatment to the new treatment. Most clinical trials that patients join are Phase III trials.
Reid in 2005 joined the Dayton Clinical Oncology Program, a non-profit community health care organization comprised of primarily Southwest Ohio and Indiana hospitals and Wright State University . The DCOP was formulated to coordinate cancer research in this region. It is a National Cancer Institute (NCI) funded program.
The goals of clinical trials or studies are to prevent cancer, define more effective cancer treatments, reduce the recurrence of cancer, increase cancer patients' survival rate, improve symptom management and provide a better quality of life for all cancer patients.
Please ask your physician if you qualify for a clinical trial and discuss your treatment options.
