What Happens in a Clinical Trial?
At its most basic level, a clinical trial is where patients are given test treatments and doctors carry out research on how the treatment affects study patients. Some patients do not actually receive the test treatment, but instead receive a placebo or standard treatment as part of the “control” group. Your progress is followed closely by doctors.
A clinical trial is where participants are given test treatments and doctors carry out research on how the treatment affects the study patients. Some patients do not actually receive the test treatment, but instead receive a placebo (a substance having no pharmacological effect but administered as a control in testing). Your progress is will be followed closely by the doctor.
In a clinical trial, patients receive treatments which are new and innovative, though not completely proven to work or be risk free. Doctors carry out research on how the treatment affects the patients, and whether the desired results occur. While clinical trials have risks for the people who participate, each study also takes steps to protect patients. What Is It Like To Receive Treatment in a Clinical Trial? When you take part in a clinical trial, you receive your treatment in a cancer center, hospital, clinic, and/or doctor’s office, which has qualified to become part of the study. These doctors and institutions have had to submit a rigorous protocol for approval before they may participate in a clinical trial. Doctors, nurses, social workers, and other health professionals may be part of your treatment team. They will follow your progress closely. You may have more tests and doctor visits than you would if you were not taking part in a study. You will follow a treatment plan your d
Every clinical trial is carefully designed to answer certain research questions. A trial plan called a “protocol” maps out what study procedures will be done, by whom, and why. Products are often tested to see how they compare to standard treatments or to no treatment. The FDA often provides extensive technical assistance to researchers conducting clinical trials, helping them design better trials that can characterize effects of a new product more efficiently, while reducing risks to those participating in the trials. The clinical trial team includes doctors and nurses as well as other health care professionals. This team checks the health of the participant at the beginning of the trial and assesses whether that person is eligible to participate. Those found to be eligible–and who agree to participate–are given specific instructions, and then monitored and carefully assessed during the trial and after it is completed. Done at hospitals and research centers around the country, clini
Clinical trials are done to test whether new products are safe and work against disease. Study products are tested to see how they compare to standard treatments or to no treatment if there is not presently one. Many studies require that neither the patient nor the doctor know whether the patient is receiving the study treatment, the standard treatment, or a placebo (an inactive substance that looks like the drug being tested). In other words, some people may be getting no treatment at all. Studies are done in phases to find different kinds of information. Usually, Phase 1 studies include only a few healthy people. Here, scientists find the best way to give a new treatment and how much they can safely give. Phase 2 studies include more people than Phase 1 studies, and the people have disease that the product is going to treat. Now scientists try to see how well the product works against the disease. If the product works, the study moves into Phase 3. Here large numbers of patients with
