CLINICAL STUDIES

WHAT ARE CLINICAL STUDIES?

A clinical study, also called clinical trial, is a type of research study which tests how well new medical approaches work for people.1 Clinical studies need to strictly adhere to ethical and legal guidelines: this guarantees the social and medical value of the study and ensures that the participants are dealt with in a responsible way.2

THE VALUE OF CLINICAL STUDIES FOR CANCER PATIENTS

Scientific research had been able to show that cancer patients benefit from participating in clinical studies. Overall, a longer survival and a reduction of mortality was observed.3, 4 However, every case is unique and there is no guarantee that every single participant benefits from a clinical trial.

CRITERIA FOR STUDY PARTICIPATION

Clinical studies have strict, predefined criteria which the patient needs to fulfil in order to be eligible to participate. It may be that you do not meet these so-called inclusion criteria and are therefore not allowed to take part in the trial.

ARE THERE CLINICAL TRIALS FOR CUP PATIENTS?

Compared to other types of cancer, there are only few clinical trials in which CUP patients may be enrolled. More information about current clinical trials concerning CUP may be found at

www.clinicaltrialsregister.eu, the EU Clinical Trials Register which contains information on clinical trials conducted in the European Union (EU), or the European Economic Area (EEA)

www.ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of privately and publicly funded clinical studies conducted around the world

Please note: the current webpage does not take responsibility for the content of external webpages.
Please be aware that not all studies are available in every country.

 

    Literature

  1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health. National Cancer Institute. NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms. Clinical Trial. Available at: https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/clinical-trial (last accessed 16th March, 2020).
  2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Institutes of Health. Clinical Center. Patient Recruitment. Available at: https://clinicalcenter.nih.gov/recruit/ethics.html (last accessed 16th March, 2020).
  3. Zaorsky NG et al. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2018; 36: e18513–e18513.
  4. Unger JM et al. American Society of Clinical Oncology educational book. American Society of Clinical Oncology. Annual Meeting 2016; 35: 185–198.
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FIND MORE INFORMATION FOR CUP PATIENTS

Helpful information about patient organisations, supporting documents and more is given in this section.

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