Cancer Clinical Trials & Drug Development
A clinical trial is a research study that involves people. These studies help doctors find better ways to treat and prevent cancer & other diseases.
Clinical trials are the primary medium for doctors to find better treatments. These trials help doctors to learn prevention of diseases or identify treatments for symptoms & side effects.
Clinical trials include human volunteers in the research study. Before starting any clinical trial, the doctors have to prove the probability of a specific new treatment will work better than the one that already exists.
Clinical trials might be carried out to study,
- A new drug or combination of drugs
- A new way of doing surgery or giving radiation therapy
- A new way of treatments
- Behavioral changes that can help people live longer
Volunteer For Clinical Trials
Clinical trials require volunteers for the research studies. If you choose to volunteer for a clinical trial, the doctors will determine if a specific clinical trial is appropriate for you. Doctors look for volunteers who have several things in common, including:
- Age
- Cancer type or stage
- Certain health problems or conditions
- Current Health Status
- Previous treatments
Drug Development
Doctors and scientists strive to find better ways of providing care for people with cancer. This is achieved by creating and studying new drugs.
Three main steps are involved in developing a new drug:
Preclinical research
Research that begins before clinical trials (testing in humans) and during which important drug safety data is collected
Clinical research
Research studies are performed on people for evaluating a medical, surgical, or behavioral intervention
Post-clinical research
Post-clinical research takes place after a drug is approved, while the research continues