1. Clinical Trials are Required by the FDA
Before being made available to patients, medical treatments need to be approved by government organizations such as the U.S. Food and Drug Organization (FDA). In order to do so, the results of clinical trials are presented and without them, physicians or other prescribing healthcare providers are not authorized to prescribe medication or other medical treatments. Therefore, clinical trials are not only important for a series of reasons, they are mandatory in the process of medical treatment development.
2. Clinical Trials Assess Therapies’ Safety and Tolerability
The different phases of clinical trials are designed to answer two main questions, if the medical therapy is safe, which is consistent with an outweigh of its benefits compared to the potential risks, as well as if the new treatment is effective in humans. When evaluating the tolerability of a therapy in humans, researchers are also focused on understanding how well it works and if it is better than the standard treatment. This means that clinical trials are also needed since they test the safety, tolerability and effectiveness of a medical therapy before it is available to the public.
3. Clinical Trials Help Advance the Field
There are numerous different types of clinical trials and different outcomes. While it is disappointing when a new medication fails to show any benefits, it does not mean the entire clinical trial was a failure. Both successful and failed clinical trials help advance the field since both provide opportunities to increase understanding, reflect on the directions of the basic science research, and to improve the design and implementation of future clinical trials.
4. Clinical Trials Can Help Lymphoma Patients Too
In determined phases of a research, medical treatments are evaluated in humans, which means that researchers usually need volunteers who suffer from the disease and healthy volunteers. Medical treatments are only tested in humans in advanced stages to increase safety, while patients can benefit from participating in clinical trials since they gain access to investigational and more effective treatments earlier than the rest of the patients.
5. Clinical Trials Can Help Improve Already Approved Therapies
In addition to the development of new medical treatments, clinical trials are also helpful in improving therapies already approved by the FDA. “Even after a drug has been approved for use against a type of cancer, doctors sometimes find it works better when given a certain way or when combined with other treatments. It may even work on a different type of cancer. Clinical trials are needed to study these possibilities, too,” explain the American Cancer Society.
Lymphoma News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.
