Mesothelioma Clinical Trials

Though mesothelioma has no cure, there are clinical trials currently underway to test new drugs and procedures in the fight against the disease. All clinical trials or studies are divided into different phases:

Phase I trials usually enroll only a small number of people and test how new drugs or procedures should be administered.

Phase II trials give early information about whether or not a new drug or procedure works and also provide information about safety and benefit.

Phase III trials compare promising new drugs or procedures with the current standard treatment. Large numbers of people from across the nation usually participate in Phase III trials and receive either the new treatment or the standard treatment.

There are a number of standard questions that a researcher needs to be able to answer from the results of clinical trials, such as:

• Whether the treatment is likely to help patients
• Whether the treatment works
• Whether the treatment is more effective than other standard treatments available
• What sort of side effects the treatment has
• Whether the benefits outweigh the risks and side effects
• Whether the treatment is likely to help a particular group of patients, and if so which group

Although doctors often recommend joining clinical trials to their patients (subject to eligibility) it is the patient's decision as to whether or not he or she wishes to be part of a test group. Patients often agree to clinical trials in the hope that they can benefit from a new treatment as well as help the medical profession to find a drug that can help others in the same situation. However, refusing to be part of a clinical trial does not in any way affect the patient's right to standard treatment or medication.