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Kenneth J. Pienta, M.D., director of U-Ms Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research, explains placebos are rarely used in cancer clinical trials.

Participating in Clinical Trials

Topic Index

On this page:
Does being in a clinical trial require lots of office visits and tests?
How can I be sure I won't get a placebo?
On page 2:
How can I be sure I get the experimental drug?
What if I decide I want out of the study? Who pays for a clinical study?
On page 3:
Will I have to stop seeing my community oncologist?
Will I get paid for being a study volunteer?
What's in it for me?
On page 4:
Where can I find information about UMCCC clinical trials?

Does being in a clinical trial require lots of office visits and tests?

It depends on the type of clinical trial. But it's true that most trial participants see their doctors more often, and have more blood draws, imaging scans and other tests than cancer patients on conventional treatment. The additional monitoring is important, because it protects the safety of patients enrolled in the study and shows whether the experimental treatment is working.

How can I be sure I won't get a placebo?

A placebo, sometimes called a sugar pill, contains no medication. Because physicians today have conventional treatments for nearly every type of cancer, placebos are not used in clinical trials of experimental cancer treatments anymore. If you enroll in a cancer clinical trial today, you will receive either an experimental treatment, conventional treatment or some combination of experimental and conventional treatment.

 

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