Clinical Trials

Clinical Trials are experimental new treatments that are performed on a test group of patients. When a new treatment is thought to be effective in fighting a disease, clinical trials are a way to put the treatment to the test. Volunteer test groups are used to test the new treatments. The patients are carefully monitored and the effects and results are recorded. Clinical trials are often found to be very effective not only in the treatment of the test patients, but in collecting knowledge in the overall fight against cancer as well.

These clinical trials are not purely trial and error. The safety of the patients is not overlooked. Extensive research and laboratory testing goes into each treatment before it is used in a clinical trial. Patients used in a clinical trial are carefully monitored and if the trial can be halted or discontinued if the treatment shows any signs of having dangerous side effects. When a new treatment has been found safe enough to be used in a clinical trial, it must pass through three different phases of trial.

  • Phase I clinical trials are established to test the safety of the treatment. Doctors test how much of the treatment can safely administered to patients and examine the side effects that appear.

  • Phase II clinical trials test whether or not the treatment works. With the results from the phase I trials, the largest safe dosage of the experimental drug is given to a group of patients. The effect that the drug has on the disease is monitored and recorded. Now that the doctors know the safest way to administer the drug and whether or not the drug is effective at treating the disease, the new treatment can be used in a phase III clinical trial.

  • Phase III clinical trials take the longest, are the most expensive, and require extraordinary balancing of control groups and groups taking carefully measured doses of the drug in different amounts. After a given amount of time, all the results are compiled, analyzed, and presented for approval.

These trials can utilize a great amount of people, who are split up into different test groups. The control group is not given the new drug. Instead they are given the common treatment for the disease. This group will be the standardized variable in the trial, and any new findings can be compared to the results of the control group. The remaining patients are placed in one or more test groups, and given the new experimental treatment. The results of the test group who received the new treatment are compared with the standard results of the control group who received the normal treatment for that particular disease. Please explore the links below for a greater understanding of clinical tests and applications:

  • The Clinical Trial Process
  • Clinical Trial Glossary
  • Clinical Trial FAQ
  • Current Clinical Trials
  • Eligibility for Clinical Trials
  • Trial Phases

With a good understanding of the disease and what treatment options are available, one can begin to understand how serious mesothelioma is. To gain a realistic idea of what to expect once mesothelioma has been diagnosed, one must understand the stages of the disease and match them up with the treatment options. The Butchart system is still the most widely accepted and used staging system for mesothelioma, despite recent acclaims for the TNM system which is still gaining favor in the medical community.