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Introduction
U.S. veterans and Department of Defense TRICARE beneficiaries can participate in NCI-sponsored cancer clinical trials as part of their health benefits. The U.S. Veteran's Administration (VA) will cover costs for veterans participating in NCI-sponsored cancer diagnosis, prevention, and treatment trials at VA facilities. TRICARE beneficiaries are covered when they participate in most NCI-sponsored cancer treatment and prevention trials at civilian and military treatment facilities around the country.
Both the VA and the TRICARE trials coverage require that beneficiaries participate only in NCI-sponsored clinical trials. In addition, the VA coverage is available only to veterans receiving care at VA facilities.
To find eligible trials, you or your doctor can search PDQ, the National Cancer Institute's clinical trials database. Review the User's Guide to PDQ Clinical Trials Search for important instructions. Or go directly to the
advanced search form to look for active trials underway at VA facilities. Here's how:
- Scroll down on the advanced search form until you see the search option, "Hospital/Institution."
- Click on the link to the right labeled "browse list".
- Select the letter "V".
- From the resulting list, select one or more VA facilities by clicking on the box to the left of the facility name.
- When you're done choosing, click on "select checked" at the bottom of the list. This will enter your selections in the Hospital/Institutions box on the advanced search form.
- From here, you can choose other search criteria or execute your search by choosing "search now".
Instead of searching for all clinical trials underway at certain VA facilities, you may want to start by searching PDQ for clinical trials of particular relevance to you. The User's Guide tells you how. Then, once you display a trial's full description, click on the link at the top that says "Study Sites and Contacts." Only when a VA facility is listed will the trial be covered under the VA agreement.
The NCI's Cancer Information Service (CIS), at 1-800-4-CANCER, can also search this database for you.
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