About Clinical Trials

Clinical trials are research studies that evaluate the safety and effectiveness of new treatments and help identify which treatments work best for certain illnesses or groups of people. Clinical trials often offer opportunities for patients to access cutting edge treatments that are not yet widely available. Talk with your doctor to determine if a clinical trial is a good choice for you.

To qualify, you must meet certain eligibility criteria, such as cancer type, overall health and treatment history. Immunotherapy depends on immune system function, so a properly functioning immune system is often a qualifying factor.

Clinical trials evaluating immunotherapy, alone and combined with other treatments, that are open for recruitment as of November 9, 2016, are listed on pages 16-34 of the Understanding Cancer Immunotherapy Patient Resource Guide.

To learn about a specific trial, enter the trial record number (NCT) into the search box located at the ClinicalTrials.gov website. The trial record number is a unique identification code assigned to each clinical study. The trial will be “Recruiting” or “Not yet recruiting,” which means the studies are either actively looking for participants or getting ready to look for participants. If you locate a trial that is not recruiting, don’t be discouraged. New studies happen all the time, so keep checking to find available trials.