Prostate Cancer: Clinical Trials

A clinical trial is a research study that’s done to test a new type of prevention or treatment. A clinical trial may test a medicine, a procedure, or a device to see if it works and is safe. There are clinical trials for all kinds of health conditions and diseases.

Who runs clinical trials?

They are managed by different kinds of organizations. A clinical trial may be run by a government agency or a university. It may be run by a company, or a nonprofit organization.

Risks and benefits of being in a clinical trial

Being part of a clinical trial means you may benefit from a treatment that is not yet available to anyone else. The treatment may have shown some good results in previous research. The risks of being in a clinical trial vary depending on the trial. A treatment may not work, or it may have harmful side effects.

Clinical trials for prostate cancer

Many prostate cancer clinical trials are often in progress. Most of these are small clinical trials with only a small number of people being treated. If a small clinical trial shows that a treatment may work well, a larger clinical trial is then done. The treatment may then be tested on hundreds or even thousands of men. Other types of clinical trials for prostate cancer look for new ways to help prevent it, better ways to find it early, and ways to tell if it will grow quickly or not.

Finding out about clinical trials

To learn more about clinical trials for prostate cancer, talk with your health care provider. You can also contact these organizations:

• National Cancer Institute 

• National Institutes of Health