Union Hospital patients can participate in clinical trials for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Clinical trials allow oncologists to offer patients the latest in cancer treatment right here in the Wabash Valley. 

What is a clinical trial?

A clinical trial is a study conducted with cancer patients to evaluate a new treatment. Studies are designed to answer specific questions and to find new ways to treat cancer patients. Not all trials involve new drugs. Sometimes putting old drugs together in a new way may provide a better way to treat cancer. In order to determine if that is the case a clinical trial would need to be done. This trial would test the new combination of drugs against what had previously been considered a standard of care.

Who is eligible?

Not everyone it is eligible for a clinical trial. Each trial it is designed to answer a set of research questions regarding a particular disease. Usually the requirements for entering into a clinical study are fairly stringent to be sure that the population studied will be quite uniform. Having a uniform study group will ensure that at the end of the trial there it is a good chance of answering the original question.

All of the trials currently enrolling patients are sponsored by national cooperative oncology groups or are sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. Talk to your physician about how you can take part if you are interested.