For nearly every disease that exists, there are or have been clinical trials which were initiated in efforts to cure or create better treatments for those diseases. Clinical trials are the frontlines of medicine’s battle against disease and have proven to be valuable tools for the testing phases of new drugs or treatments. Each year the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical industry invests much of its assets in these clinical trials, though still many are engineered by cancer centers or other single-focus health institutions. For the study of malignant mesothelioma, clinical trials have proven to be an important asset in advancing our knowledge of the disease and how to better battle it.
What is a clinical trial and how do they work? A clinical trial is essentially a well organized program of treatment that is administered to several patients battling the same illness. Research within a certain field may indicate that perhaps a new drug or treatment regimen would be able to improve results in treatment of a given disease. If there is sufficient evidence for this, an agency or pharmaceutical company may examine sponsoring a clinical trial of this treatment. Trial status must then be applied for from the Food and Drug Administration, which has specific regulations for upon who and how these treatments are evaluated. Recruitment techniques vary for patient enrollment, but typically there is a small stipend awarded for participation.
Patients will then all be admitted to the trial and each will be closely monitored throughout the treatment to evaluate the efficacy of the new treatment. Most clinical trials will utilize a control, which is a small group of patients who will be administered either no treatments or simply the existing treatments against which the efficacy of the new treatment is being measured. Depending on the treatment, many patients may experience marked improvement in their daily lives and the control of their disease, while others may experience no changes at all. Much of the information being gathered is for statistical purposes, rather than a patient to patient basis. In the end the results of the group will be evaluated with much more validity than the effects of treatment on a particular patient
It is not without risk, however, to participate in a clinical trial. Patients may see no improvement of their condition. In fact, it is possible that the trial could hinder their condition, though these cases are generally regarded to as anomalies. Patients who physicians feel are not in a position to benefit from the treatment will generally be ruled out in the patient selection process. Patients of malignant mesothelioma have participated in many clinical trials, many of whom have experience extraordinary benefit from treatments that they would otherwise not have access to because of FDA regulations. Researchers and cancer specialists are committed to developing better mesothelioma treatment, and eventually a cure. Because of this, there are actively recruiting clinical trials for malignant mesothelioma that patients can take advantage of if they qualify.
Patients should speak to their physicians before applying for any clinical trial.