Information below provided by the National Institute of Health
Why are there clinical trials?A clinical trial is one of the final stages of a long and careful cancer research process. Studies are done with cancer patients to find out whether promising approaches to cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment are safe and effective.
What are the different types of clinical trials?
- Treatment
trials test new treatments
(like a new cancer drug, new approaches to surgery or radiation
therapy, new combinations of treatments, or new methods
such as gene therapy). See Taking Part in Clinical Trials: What
Cancer Patients Need to Know.
- Prevention
trials test new approaches,
such as medicines, vitamins, minerals, or other supplements
that doctors believe may lower the risk of a certain type
of cancer. These trials look for the best way to prevent
cancer in people who have never had cancer or to prevent
cancer from coming back or a new cancer occurring in people
who have already had cancer. See Understanding Prevention
Trials for additional information, as well as Taking Part
in Clinical Trials: Cancer Prevention Studies -- What Patients
Need to Know.
- Screening
trials test the best
way to find cancer, especially in its early stages. See
Understanding Screening Trials for additional information.
- Quality of Life trials (also called Supportive Care trials) explore ways to improve comfort and quality of life for cancer patients. See Understanding Supportive Care Trials for additional information.
Most clinical research that involves the testing of a new drug progresses in an orderly series of steps, called phases. This allows researchers to ask and answer questions in a way that results in reliable information about the drug and protects the patients. Clinical trials are usually classified into one of three phases:
- Phase
I trials: These first
studies in people evaluate how a new drug should be given
(by mouth, injected into the blood, or injected into the
muscle), how often, and what dose is safe. A Phase I trial
usually enrolls only a small number of patients, sometimes
as few as a dozen.
- Phase
II trials: A phase II
trial continues to test the safety of the drug, and begins
to evaluate how well the new drug works. Phase II studies
usually focus on a particular type of cancer.
- Phase III trials: These studies test a new drug, a new combination of drugs, or a new surgical procedure in comparison to the current standard. A participant will usually be assigned to the standard group or the new group at random (called randomization). Phase III trials often enroll large numbers of people and may be conducted at many doctors' offices, clinics, and cancer centers nationwide.
Clinical Trial Links
The first two links on the left will take you directly to stae supported sites with cancer information specific to New Jersey. The links below those are to national sites where you will have to enter seach words like "prostate cancer" and "New Jersey" to find current local trials.