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Imagine hearing the words "You have cancer." After the shock, what's next? How do you begin the fight? For many, clinical trials are a frontline treatment choice. "We knew that a clinical trial might be the only thing that could save Mom's life … and it did." - Shellee Sabey, daughter of Patricia Sabey, breast cancer, clinical-trial participant

Hearing your doctor say "You have cancer" creates a sea of emotions. Shock. Denial. Anger. Fear. But, after you reconcile that you have the disease, your next decision is how to go about fighting - and beating - cancer.

The common thread for today's breakthrough cancer drugs is that they are developed in what is known as a clinical trial. Cancer clinical trials compare a new treatment to the best existing treatment for a particular type of cancer.

For more and more cancer patients, participation in a clinical trial is the treatment option of choice. Of course, cancer clinical trials aren't for everyone, but they are an important treatment option that all cancer patients should discuss with their physicians.

In most cases, your own doctor will provide the treatment. You don't have to live near a major university. You will not receive a placebo - or sugar pill - in lieu of the best available treatment. Most important, you will have access to cutting-edge medicine and health-care professionals who will treat you with dignity, respect and a commitment to providing the best care possible.

As Dr. Robert Comis, president and chairman of the Coalition of National Cancer Cooperative Groups, says, "Participating in a clinical trial can benefit a patient by providing early access to breakthrough medicines."

Here's what some clinical-trial participants say:
The biggest benefits of a clinical trial are that you get extra treatment, extra checkups and a lot of extra attention from the doctors. Everyone's interested in knowing how you're doing. - Jack Willis, liver cancer, trial participant

Taking part in the trial was the best decision I made.
- Catherine Milligan, breast cancer, trial participant.

It is hoped you are never faced with this decision. But if you are, be sure to discuss participating in a clinical trial with your doctor. It may help save a life. Perhaps yours.

For more information visit www.cancertrialshelp.org/newsweek

Among the hundreds of trials currently available:
· A randomized Phase III study compares standard combination chemotherapy with an oral chemotherapy drug in women over 65 years with breast cancer.

· Postmenopausal women with a strong family history of breast cancer are being sought to see if raloxifene is as effective as tamoxifen in preventing breast cancer.

· A study for patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer evaluates the effectiveness of a standard chemotherapy when used with or without bevacizumab, a monoclonal antibody.

· The effects of investigational drugs ALIMTA and gem citabine, and the best way of giving these drugs together, are being studied in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.

· A new brain cancer trial compares the effects of two treatment methods: (1) radiosurgery, a single session of high dose radiation delivered to the tumor site, versus (2) radiosurgery followed by whole brain radiation given in 12 treatments, one each weekday for approximately two weeks.

· In 50 percent of patients with locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer, the cancer will spread to the central nervous system. A study compares the effects of brain irradiation with standard approach of observation to see if irradiation improves survival and lowers the risk of brain tumor development.

· A new Phase II childhood cancer study examines if a protein inhibitor drug is effective in stopping cancer cells from multiplying in patients with juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia, a rare form of cancer usually found in children under age 5.

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