What You Should Know About Cancer Clinical Trials

December 5, 2019
Brielle Gregory, ASCO staff

The ASCO Educational Book is a collection of articles written by ASCO Annual Meeting speakers and oncology experts. Published annually, each volume highlights the most compelling research and developments across many different fields of cancer care.

For people with cancer, choosing to join a clinical trial is a big decision, with plenty of things to consider before making a choice. It’s normal to have questions or concerns about joining a clinical trial, and it is often because those needs aren’t fully addressed that many people don’t or can’t join research studies.share on twitter There are also barriers at the institutional and societal levels that prevent people from joining clinical trials. Clinical trials are used to study new ways to treat cancer, and it is in clinical trials where the latest advances in cancer care are made. Therefore, it is essential that people with cancer who want to join cancer clinical trials can.

In this podcast, Ryan Nipp, MD, MPH, and Electra Paskett, PhD, MSPH, discuss what barriers might be holding patients back from joining clinical trials. They also discuss what needs to be done to overcome these barriers and further enable advancements in the field.

  • Why it’s important for people with cancer to be involved in clinical trials. [3:26]

  • The barriers that might prevent someone from participating in a clinical trial. [4:49]

  • What resources are available to people with cancer who might not participate in a clinical trial because of financial concerns. [11:05]

  • What patients should know about the informed consent process. [15:40]

  • How patient navigators can help and empower people with cancer to participate in clinical trials. [18:47]

Dr. Ryan Nipp is a gastrointestinal oncologist and health services researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center. Dr. Electra Paskett is the Marion N. Rowley Professor of Cancer Research at The Ohio State University (OSU). She is the director of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control in the College of Medicine, a professor in the Division of Epidemiology in the College of Public Health, and the associate director of Population Sciences and program leader of the Cancer Control Program in the Comprehensive Cancer Center of OSU. She is also the director of the Center for Cancer Health Equity at the James Cancer Hospital.

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