Clinical studies, also called clinical trials, involve patients who volunteer to be treated with experimental therapies in order to help doctors learn about new treatment options. Before an experimental therapy is allowed to enter clinical studies in humans, extensive laboratory work and research is conducted to study its safety and biological activity. A clinical study cannot begin without approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the government body that regulates drug research. Clinical studies are crucial to the development of new treatments for diseases, including cancer.




Chemotherapy is a treatment that affects the whole body by going through the bloodstream. The goal of chemotherapy is to get rid of any cancer cells that may have spread from where the cancer started to another part of the body.




Normal cells grow and divide predictably. Cancer cells, however, divide rapidly and uncontrolled. Chemotherapy works by attacking rapidly dividing cells, preventing them from growing or multiplying.




Depending on the type of cancer and its stage of development, chemotherapy can be used to achieve these goals:

• cure your cancer
• keep the cancer from spreading
• slow the cancer's growth
• kill cancer cells that may have spread to other parts of the body from the original tumor
• relieve symptoms caused by cancer

Your doctor will discuss with you the goal of your chemotherapy before you start treatment.




Only you and your doctor can decide if participation in a clinical trial is right for you.