November 16, 2018 – Clinical Trial Perception

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Anchor lead: Would you consider a clinical trial for your cancer care? Elizabeth Tracey reports

Only about 3% of people with cancer enroll in a clinical trial for care, with a recent large study attempting to assess people’s attitudes and beliefs regarding such trials. William Nelson, director of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, describes the findings.

Nelson: Ninety percent of the respondents thought that clinical trials were likely safe, the 10% that didn’t were really worried about adverse events associated with a new drug or a new treatment. Forty-five percent rarely considered clinical research as an option for their treatment. But as you drilled down on the folks that participated in clinical trials 93.4% said they’d participate again. The major criticism of those people was the burdensome aspect of multiple visits and the bureaucracy of having to participate in the trials.  :33

Nelson notes that clinical trials are widely available around the country and are likely to provide very comprehensive care. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.