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If you are one of the 1.2 million people diagnosed with cancer this year, you will want the best treatment available. A clinical trial offers the best available treatment and the opportunity to receive a new, and potentially more effective, therapy. "It is now well documented," says Dr. Richard L. Schilsky, associate dean for clinical research at the University of Chicago and chairman of CALGB, "that patients who participate in trials have outcomes as good, if not better than, those who do not participate, even if they get the standard therapy."
If new cancer therapies are to become available to the public, there must be increased participation in clinical trials. Yet, 85 percent of cancer patients are not even aware that trials are a treatment option. The Coalition of National Cancer Cooperative Groups helps patients, the public, health care professionals, and advocacy groups more fully understand and participate in cancer trials. Its goal is to double the annual rate of adult patient participation in cancer clinical trials from approximately 45,000 in 2000 to 90,000 by 2005.
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