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Clinical Trials/Research
Our cancer center collaborates with Connecticut Oncology & Hematology to provide state of the art access to a vast clinical trials program in conjunction with US Oncology.
What are Clinical Trials?
Clinical trials are phased studies where new drugs are given to cancer patients to evaluate how well they work. Phase II studies are designed to assess whether or not a new drug is effective in a particular type of cancer, and are studies that often provide patients the fastest access to new and exciting treatments.
Clinical trials test the safety and effectiveness of new or modified cancer drugs, new drug doses, unique approaches to surgery or radiation therapy, and varied combinations of treatments. In the United States, all new cancer treatment products go through this evaluation process and must demonstrate benefit in helping patients with a specific cancer before they become commercially available to other patients.
Clinical trials essentially fall into two general categories:
- The first general category of clinical trials are designed to evaluate new drugs, compounds, or biologic agents that have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for administration to patients. All substances must go through several phases of clinical trials to document their safety and effectiveness before the FDA approves them for routine use to treat cancer patients. Prior to FDA approval, these substances are only available through clinical trials; however, after FDA approval, they are commercially available.
- Clinical trials may also evaluate drugs, compounds, or biologic agents already approved by the FDA for the treatment of one type of cancer. These substances have already been determined to be safe by the FDA and they are now being evaluated in different doses, schedules, and combinations to determine how to optimally use them for the treatment of a variety of cancers.
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