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How to Find a Cancer Treatment Trial: A 10-Step Guide

  • Posted: 03/21/2005
  • Updated: 06/08/2010

Step 3: Complete the Cancer Details Checklist

If you decide to look for a clinical trial, you must know certain details about your cancer diagnosis. You will need to compare these details with the eligibility criteria of any trial that interests you. Eligibility criteria are the guidelines for who can and cannot take part in a certain clinical trial. They are also called entry criteria or enrollment criteria.

To help you know which trials you may be eligible to join, complete the Cancer Details Checklist 1 as much as possible. This form asks questions about your cancer and provides space to write down your answers. Keep the form with you during your search for a clinical trial.

To get the information you need for the form, ask your doctor, a nurse, or social worker at your doctor's office for help. Explain to them that you are interested in looking for a clinical trial and that you need these details before starting to look. They may be able to review your medical records and help you fill out the form. The more information you can find to complete the form, the easier it will be to find a clinical trial that might fit your situation.



Glossary Terms

eligibility criteria (EH-lih-jih-BIH-lih-tee kry-TEER-ee-uh)
In clinical trials, requirements that must be met for an individual to be included in a study. These requirements help make sure that patients in a trial are similar to each other in terms of specific factors such as age, type and stage of cancer, general health, and previous treatment. When all participants meet the same eligibility criteria, it gives researchers greater confidence that results of the study are caused by the intervention being tested and not by other factors.

Table of Links

1http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/finding/treatment-trial-guide/page15