Clinical Trials Offer Hope
Clinical trials offer experimental treatments. They try new drugs and new drug combinations, new surgical procedures or devices, or new ways to use existing treatments.
There are two types of clinical trials: therapeutic and non-therapeutic. Therapeutic clinical trials enroll patients and provide a specific treatment (surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or investigational new drugs) to study its impact on the patient’s cancer. Non-therapeutic trials do not provide treatment to patients. They aim to advance the understanding of cancer through testing tumors or blood, questionnaires and scans.
Finding Out About Clinical Trials
The best place to start is with your medical team. They may already know about a clinical trial that could be a good option for you. They can help search for other possible trials and provide information and guidance as you decide what makes the most sense for you. You can also contact hospitals directly to learn about the clinical trials they are conducting.
Several different websites register clinical trials. Many trials are open at multiple national and even international sites. These databases are updated regularly, but only the doctors conducting the trials have a truly nuanced understanding of their trials and patient eligibility. When searching for a trial, the keyword or term to enter is “SMARCB1”.
