National Cancer Institute National Cancer Institute
U.S. National Institutes of Health National Cancer Institute
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Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense Beneficiaries
    Posted: 10/15/1999    Updated: 05/08/2009
Related Pages
Search for Clinical Trials 1
NCI's PDQ® Cancer Clinical Trials Registry.

How to Find a Cancer Treatment Trial 2
This guide will help you to learn about cancer treatment trials that are of potential benefit to you and to decide whether to participate in a particular trial.
Introduction

U.S. veterans and Department of Defense TRICARE beneficiaries can participate in NCI-sponsored cancer clinical trials as part of their health benefits. The U.S. Veteran's Administration (VA) will cover costs for veterans participating in NCI-sponsored cancer diagnosis, prevention, and treatment trials at VA facilities. TRICARE beneficiaries are covered when they participate in most NCI-sponsored cancer treatment and prevention trials at civilian and military treatment facilities around the country.

Both the VA and the TRICARE trials coverage require that beneficiaries participate only in NCI-sponsored clinical trials. In addition, the VA coverage is available only to veterans receiving care at VA facilities.

To find eligible trials, you or your doctor can search the National Cancer Institute's clinical trials database. Review Help Using the NCI Clinical Trials Search Form 3 for important instructions. Or go directly to the NCI Clinical Trials Search Form 1 to look for active trials underway at VA facilities. Here's how:

  • Go to the Location field of the search form and click in the circle next to "At Hospital/Institution."
  • Click on the link in the box labeled "Choose From List". A new window titled "Find Hospitals/Institutions" will appear.
  • Select the letter "V".
  • From the resulting list, select one or more VA facilities by clicking on the box to the left of the facility name. (Be sure to scroll down to find facilities listed under "Veterans Affairs Medical Center.")
  • When you're done choosing, click on "Add Selected" at the bottom of the list. This will enter your selections in the At Hospital/Institution box on the search form.
  • From here, you can choose other search criteria or complete your search by clicking on the Search button at the bottom of the form.

Once you display a trial's full description, click on the link at the top that says "Trial Contact Information." The participating VA facility or facilities that you selected will be shown. (You may click on See All Trial Sites to view all hospitals and institutions participating in the trial.) Only when a VA facility is listed will the trial be covered under the VA agreement.

The NCI's Cancer Information Service 4 (CIS), at 1-800-4-CANCER, can also search this database for you.



Table of Links

1http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/search
2http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/finding/treatment-trial-guide
3http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/search-form-help
4http://cis.nci.nih.gov/index.html