Breast Cancer Clinical Trials: Five Common Misconceptions

Breast cancer clinical trials, five common misconceptions. 

Clinical trials are essential to advancing breast cancer care. 

Your participation could improve treatments and save lives, but there are a lot of misconceptions about clinical trials. We want to set the record straight about the top five. 

I'm probably not eligible for a clinical trial. 

You might think clinical trials are only for people who don't benefit from standard treatments. 

The truth is, almost anyone with breast cancer can participate.

 By joining a study, you might get a more effective treatment. You also may be eligible for trials looking at things other than cancer treatments. 

Clinical trials look at all sorts of ways to improve the lives of people with cancer and need all types of people to participate. 

I'll be treated like a guinea pig. 

You may worry the treatment being tested is ineffective, or you'll be treated like a number, instead of a person.

These days, clinical trials are highly regulated. 

Doctors take the health and safety of study participants very seriously. 

Before a new treatment is ever tested in people, it's studied in labs and animals, then clinical trials and people are usually done in three phases before a treatment is approved. 

Phase one, test the treatment in a small number of people to make sure it's safe and to find the best dose and best way to give it to people. 

Phase two, test the treatment in a larger group of people to learn more about its benefits and side effects. 

Phase three, test the treatment in thousands of people to see if it works better than the standard of care. 

If you're in a study, you'll be carefully monitored and informed about your progress. If you don't have good results or develop troubling side effects, you can quit the trial at any time.

I might get a placebo instead of treatment. 

A placebo is an inactive pill or infusion that looks just like the treatment being studied. 

Placebos help researchers compare the benefits and side effects of treatment with and without an experimental therapy. 

It's important to know that placebos are almost always given with standard cancer treatment, so there is no chance that you'd receive a placebo alone and you'll always be told in advance if you might be in a placebo group. 

I can't afford to join a clinical trial. 

Clinical trials usually pay for anything that is part of the trial, like the study treatment you'll receive. 

Your routine cancer care will be billed to your health insurance company.

It's important to ask exactly who will cover what, so you know what to expect. 

You'll likely have to cover any travel, housing, childcare and other expenses, but there are resources that can help. 

Ask the trial team to recommend one. 

My participation won't make a difference. 

Every big advance in cancer care happened because people like you joined a clinical trial. 

You can't be certain that you'll benefit from a trial, but knowing you contributed to science that may improve the lives of others can be very rewarding. 

To learn more about breast cancer clinical trials, visit breastcancer.org/clinicaltrials.