Making Progress Against Cancer

National Cancer Survivors Day is June 7, 2009. There are more than 12 million U.S. cancer survivors, thanks in large part to clinical trials. Clinical trials test new ways to prevent, detect, and treat disease in people. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is a leading funder of cancer clinical trials.

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Ask Your Doctor About Clinical Trials

What is a clinical trial and how might one benefit you? Check out Clinical Trials: Questions and Answers. Also see Participating in a Trial: Questions to Ask Your Doctor. Search NCI's list of more than 8,000 clinical trials now accepting participants. A growing number of states have passed legislation requiring health plans to pay the cost of routine medical care you receive as a participant in a clinical trial. For more information, visit the Clinical Trials section of this Web site.

Explore Resources for Health Care Professionals

Including Clinical Trials in Your Practice is a Web-based course for health care professionals interested in becoming a clinical trials investigator. The NCI Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP) has developed an Investigator's Handbook to define NCI policies with regard to clinical trials and to ensure participant safety. NCI is supporting the development of a new model to increase enrollment by African Americans in cancer clinical trials. See Simple Measures Can Encourage African Americans to Join Clinical Trials. New posters and buttons provided free by NCI can help raise patients' awareness of clinical trials. To order free, patient-oriented materials about cancer and clinical trials, search the NCI Publications Locator.

Learn about NCI's Investment in Clinical Trials

The newly established Clinical Trials Reporting Program will create a comprehensive database of NCI-supported clinical trials and will help NCI better manage its clinical trials portfolio. NCI is restructuring its clinical trials enterprise to speed the pace of bringing new treatments and prevention strategies to cancer patients. Greater coordination, careful priority setting, standard operations, and a robust informatics infrastructure are key elements in this new clinical trials enterprise. Important clinical trials are in progress and have the potential to transform cancer therapy. Two examples: The TAILORx Breast Cancer Trial is exploring whether genes that are frequently associated with risk of recurrence for women with early-stage breast cancer can be used to assign patients to the most appropriate and effective treatment. NCI's Center for Cancer Research (CCR) is leading the way in more quickly identifying and evaluating new cancer drugs in people. See First Phase 0 Oncology Trial Shows Effectiveness of New Drug on Its Target. The NCI Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP) is a pilot project that makes NCI clinical trials available in local communities. See a video about how researchers at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington, D.C., are sharing clinical trials data in real time using NCI's caBIG®  (cancer Biomedial Informatics Grid).

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