Clinical Trials 101

Clinical trials are performed to test new medications, procedures, protocols, interventions, and devices to see if they are safe and effective. They are performed for many diseases within different groups of people (age, ethnicity, sex).

Clinical trials may also be performed with the goal of addressing side effects secondary to a primary illness, such as cachexia or skin toxicity, that may accompany cancer treatments. They may be performed to see if a new treatment option is safer or more effective than an existing option. Clinical trials also address quality of life and symptom management, genetics and personalized medicine, and survivorship and long-term outcomes.

This educational video provides an introduction to clinical trials.

This resource is made possible by: Agenus, Merck, Mirati, and Takeda.