Living With Colon Cancer

Clinical trials are used to find out more about potential treatments, such as the potential benefits and risks and for which types of people they may work best. The results of trials have helped doctors learn how to prevent, detect, and treat cancer. Clinical trials are usually made up of 2 groups of volunteers—one group will get the treatment being studied, and the other group will get the same treatment they may already be receiving from their doctors.

There are 3 phases of clinical trials:

• Phase I trials test how safe a dose is, how a treatment should be given, and how a treatment affects the body
• Phase II trials test to see if the treatment being studied has an effect on a specific disease and how it affects the body
• Phase III compares the treatment beings studied with the treatment usually used to treat that type of cancer (standard of care treatment)

Talk with your healthcare provider to learn more about clinical trials and to see if one may be right for you. Go to ClinicalTrials.gov to find out more about clinical trials.

To the right are examples of organizations and resources you may find helpful. Click on the links to visit those websites and learn more.