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Clinical trials are used to evaluate tests or treatments that have not yet been proven to be effective. Clinical trials rely on volunteers to take part in them. The June 9, 2004, issue of JAMA includes an article about patients who participate in cancer clinical trials.

PHASES OF TREATMENT TRIALS

• Phase 1 trials are conducted to determine if a new treatment is safe and what doses can be given and to discover the main adverse effects of the new treatment. At this first phase, a small number of patients are enrolled.
  
• Phase 2 trials further evaluate the safety and potential effectiveness of a therapy and evaluate how it affects the body.
  
• Phase 3 trials provide scientific testing of the value of a new treatment. Participants are randomly (by chance, like flipping a coin) assigned to receive the new therapy, the current standard therapy, or a placebo (an inactive pill or procedure). Most new therapies . . . [Full Text of this Article]

RELATED ARTICLE

Participation in Cancer Clinical Trials: Race-, Sex-, and Age-Based Disparities
Vivek H. Murthy, Harlan M. Krumholz, and Cary P. Gross
JAMA. 2004;291(22):2720-2726.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT