A clinical trial is a regulated, systematic way to answer a question related to health care. Clinical trials are also called medical research or research studies. The goal of any particular trial can vary. For example, it may be seeking a better way to:
Patient volunteers are monitored for side effects by closely supervised and ethically designed trials. As with any medical intervention, there are potential risks that you need to know about before you decide to enroll in a clinical trial. Your participation may require visits to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN, and/or its affiliates. Any questions you may have about the study will be answered before you participate.
As a volunteer, you have the opportunity to be involved in clinical research that may bring about advances in science and health care. Volunteers are needed in all areas of clinical research, from trials in healthy volunteers to disease specific studies.
Before a new treatment is tested with patients, it is carefully studied for several years in the laboratory and tested for safety. This process identifies the new methods most likely to succeed and, as much as possible, shows how to use them safely and effectively.
At Vanderbilt, clinical trials undergo a rigorous approval process both by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and by two separate committees at the medical center. One Vanderbilt committee reviews the study to be sure it is scientifically sound. The other is the Institutional Review Board (IRB), which focuses on protecting study volunteers. Researchers and doctors approving a study have reason to believe that it will be as good as or better than current treatments.
Patients who qualify for a trial decide, with advice from their doctor, whether to participate in a study. How a treatment will work for any given patient in the trial cannot be known ahead of time. Therefore, the patient will learn about both the risks and benefits of the study before making a decision. This is informed consent.
A patient will never be placed in a clinical trial without their knowledge or permission. All qualified participants sign consent forms before the study begins. A patient may leave a study at any time without any effect on their continuing medical care.
You can search open clinical trials at Vanderbilt University Medical Center using our online tool, My Research at Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt is also a partner in a national recruitment registry, ResearchMatch, that connects people who would like to participate in research with researchers at Vanderbilt and nationwide.
If you are interested in a cancer clinical trial, you can also visit the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.