Introduction
Approximately 555,550 people in the United States are expected to
die of cancer each year - an average of more than 1,500 people a day.
As the second leading cause of death after heart disease, cancer
accounts for one in four deaths each year. Moreover, about 1,284,900
new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in 2002. As
widespread as the threat of cancer is among all Americans, its impact
is felt disproportionately by racial and ethnic minorities, the
medically underserved, and people over age 65.
Scientific research continues to provide valuable insights into
the causes of cancer. But research is an incremental process, moving
forward in small, carefully planned steps. Advances typically begin
with basic research in the laboratory. After years of testing in
cells and tissues, promising leads are tested in animal models of
human cancers. Only after treatments or techniques prove successful
in animals can they be evaluated in people through clinical trials.
Well-designed, well-run clinical trials are the only way to determine
the true effectiveness of a promising new agent or intervention being investigated.
Clinical trials are designed to answer specific questions about
the effects of a therapy or technique designed to improve human
health. The trials are planned in advance, follow a rigorous
scientific process, and the findings are analyzed. The scientific
process has built-in safeguards for participants, who are selected
carefully from volunteers. Clinical trials are usually conducted in a
progressive series of steps, called phases. The process starts with
small trials testing the safety of an intervention and moves to
progressively larger trials. The larger trials compare the effectiveness of the new
intervention given to the investigational group to the currently accepted standard care given to the control group.
Clinical trials are mechanisms for developing better methods of
detecting, treating, and eventually preventing diseases like cancer.
The enormous strides made in treating childhood cancer, for example,
are the direct result of clinical trials. In the United States today,
more than 70 percent of children with cancer live at least 5 years
after diagnosis, as opposed to only 55 percent in the mid-1970s.
More than 60 percent of children with cancer participate in
clinical trials, yet only 3 percent of adults with cancer do. To
answer the most pressing questions about cancer - and to do so
quickly - many more adults must participate in clinical trials. To
encourage participation, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and
other organizations provide information to ensure that health care
professionals and the people they treat understand clinical trials,
consider them as an option, and can easily locate them in their
communities. Clinical trials should not be considered only in terms
of caring for people who have cancer. They may also present
prevention and early detection options for people at high risk of
developing cancer.
For more basic information about clinical trials, see
"Facts and Figures about Cancer Clinical Trials."
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