Types of Cancer Clinical Trials

Types of Cancer Clinical Trials	Definition	Purpose	Who participates
Prevention Trials	To study how healthy people may prevent cancer	To test certain vitamins, supplements, or certain medications that doctors believe may lower the risk of a person developing a certain type of cancer	People who have not or don’t have cancer
Screening Trials	To study ways to detect cancer earlier	To determine whether finding cancer before a person shows any signs of the disease will help to decrease their chance of suffering from the disease	People who don’t have cancer
Diagnostic Trials	To find new and better ways to identify cancer more accurately	To determine where the cancer is located in the body, how much cancer is there, and whether or not it has spread to other parts of the body	People who have cancer
Treatment Trials	To test new drugs, surgery techniques, radiation therapy procedures or other treatment methods on people who have specific types and stages of cancer	To answer specific questions and evaluate the effectiveness of a new treatment or a new way of using a treatment that has already been accepted and is widely used	People who have cancer

Types of Cancer Clinical Trials	Definition	Purpose	Who participates
Quality of Life or Supportive Care Trials	To explore ways to improve the comfort and quality of life of cancer patients, cancer survivors, their families or caregivers	To study ways to help people who experience symptoms (e.g. nausea) or other effects from cancer or its treatment	Cancer patients & survivors, and their families or caregivers
Genetics Studies	Focus on how what is inherited from a person or family and how it can affect the detection, diagnosis, or response to cancer treatment	To help understand the role of genes in the development of cancer	People who may or may not have cancer

Sources:

²http://www.mdanderson.org/patients_public/clinical_trials/display.cfm?id=B8FAF240-3099-4F61-BEC654931EA977E3&method=displayFull