NEWLY DIAGNOSED PROSTATE CANCER GUIDE
Clinical Trials After consulting with your doctor, you may consider enrolling in a clinical trial to gain access to potential new treatments or techniques that are still in the investigational stage. A clinical trial is a research study investigating experimental treatment to see if it is safe to use and effective in fighting a disease. All treatments used today for prostate cancer are available because of past clinical trials and thanks to past clinical trial participants. Many times people do not participate in a clinical trial because they did not know they were eligible or that one was available, so be sure to ask your doctor when making your treatment decisions. Participating in a clinical trial is a way to gain access to promising new drugs that are yet to be approved by the FDA. Hundreds of research projects are currently ongoing and investigating the potential of new drugs and new combinations of drugs. Historically, people of color are underrepresented in clinical trials. Diversity in clinical trial participation is critical to understanding the safety and efficacy of treatment options. When clinical trials lack diversity and participants are of the same age, race, and ethnicity, data from that clinical trial will fail to help researchers learn how different people may respond differently to the same medication.
CLINICAL TRIALS BY THE NUMBERS
10–15 the average number of years for a drug to be developed and get on the market for patients
6–7 the average number of years drugs are studied in clinical trials
80% of clinical trials fail because they don’t recruit enough patients
35 + number of drugs approved by the FDA for prostate cancer
Additional information about clinical trials, as well as a free clinical trial matching service, can be found at zerocancer.org/clinicaltrials.
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ZEROCANCER.ORG
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