Choosing to participate in a clinical trial is an important personal decision. An overview of clinical trials is provided below.

Clinical trials are research studies involving people that aim to determine if a new treatment or procedure:

• Is safe
• Has side effects
• Is effective
• Works better than the currently used treatment
• Helps you feel better

There are three different types of clinical trials with each stage having a different purpose:

• PHASE I is a clinical trial in patients with the primary objective of evaluating the safety and tolerability, and sometimes the pharmacokinetics, of a drug candidate.
• PHASE II is a clinical trial in patients with the objective of evaluating the safety and preliminary efficacy of a drug candidate.
• PHASE III is a clinical trial with the objective of evaluating the safety and efficacy of a drug candidate. Phase III trials generally involve a larger number of subjects.

Additional information on clinical trials can be found on the following websites:

www.cancerresearchuk.org

www.clinicaltrials.gov