PLACEBOS

I’ve heard about placebos? What are these and is there a chance that I’ll receive one?

A placebo is an inactive treatment given to a patient who is under the impression that the treatment is active. Any benefit is clearly not due to the inactive treatment but is therefore due to the psychological benefit of believing an active treatment has been given. This is what is referred to as the placebo effect.

By and large, placebos are not used in cancer clinical trials. In general, in phase 1 and phase 2 trials everyone receives the treatment. In phase 3 trials it is true that some will receive the treatment and some won’t (they’ll receive the standard best therapy) but almost never will a patient receive a placebo.

Am I guaranteed to get the experimental treatment in a phase 3 trial?

The answer to your question is no. Once you enroll in a trial you are randomized to one of the groups of the trial (these groups are called arms of the trial). Usually, there are 2 arms – the experimental therapy and what is considered to be the best available treatment, but you don’t get to choose.

Instead, a random process is used so that with 2 arms you would have a 50% chance of getting the experimental treatment.

Sometimes, there are 3 arms in the study and you therefore would have a 33% chance of getting the experimental treatment.

I’m ready to start. Is there one site I can check that has every clinical trial listed?

Unfortunately, there is no one database at present that lists all the clinical trials that are being conducted. In reality, it’s necessary to search at least 2 or 3 sites. Remember, some trials are sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, some are sponsored by the government, and some are sponsored by private funds.

In the near future there will be probably be one centralized web site with all the trial data but for now there isn’t.

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