Home Iconic Community What you need to know about cancer research and clinical trials

What you need to know about cancer research and clinical trials

A/Prof Jim Coward, Dr Hsieh Wen-Son, Dr Karmen Wong and Prof Sandro Porceddu / 06 Dec, 2021

Facebook Live with Dr Karmen Wong, A/Prof Jim Coward, Dr Hsieh Wen-Son and Prof Sandro Porceddu

Icon’s experienced cancer specialists from Singapore and Australia, including Dr Karmen Wong, A/Prof Jim Coward, Dr Hsieh Wen-Son and Prof Sandro Porceddu, recently featured in a global webinar on cancer research where they discussed clinical trials for a wide range of cancer types.

The panel answered a variety of questions from our patients including:

2:00 – What does it mean when we talk about the different ‘phases’ of clinical trials?
2:23 – What is a phase 1 clinical trial?
3:18 – What is the difference between a phase 1A and a phase 1B clinical trial?
4:52 – What is a phase 2 clinical trial?
5:25 – What is a phase 3 clinical trial?
6:30 – What are some of the recent advances in treatment for cancers, such as lung, breast, colon and ovarian cancer, that have now been put into practice as a result of findings from phase 3 clinical trials?
12:44 – How do I know if clinical trials are right for me as a patient?
15:50 – How do I find a clinical trial that might be suitable for me?
16:41 – If I find a clinical trial through a website such as clinicaltrials.gov , how can I understand as much as possible about a clinical trial to know if it is suitable for me?
17:46 – Are clinical trials safe? What safety measures are built into clinical trials to keep me safe?
24:55 – What is an investigator-initiated clinical trial?
25:44 – What are some of the recent advances in cancer treatment using stereotactic radiation therapy for advanced cancer that has spread to the lungs following investigator-initiated clinical trials?
27:02 – How are investigator-initiated clinical trials developed by oncologists and what checks do they go through before they are opened to patients?

29:17 – Would you participate in a clinical trial as a ‘last resort’ only?
31:00 – If I am being told by a doctor that there are no clinical trials available to me, how can I find out about clinical trials that might be available at other centres and internationally?
33:20 – Why are some patients given a placebo during a clinical trial? Could I be given a placebo and not a real drug?
37:20 – How can I find out what results a clinical trial is having and what people on the trial are experiencing so I can decide whether to participate in it?
39:20 – Are clinical trials free?
42:02 – Are there any clinical trials that are investigating intravenous vitamin C as a cancer treatment?
43:05 – If a clinical trial is open in a number of different countries, is it always started in those countries at the same time? Can I travel overseas to participate in a clinical trial?
47:15 – Are there any clinical trials for advanced pancreatic cancer? Does immunotherapy work for pancreatic cancer?
49:20 – How can I find a clinical trial for a rare cancer?
50:49 – Are there any clinical trials that are investigating screening tests for lung cancer?
51:18 – Are there any clinical trials that combine both radiation therapy and chemotherapy at Icon Cancer Centre or at other cancer centres internationally?
52:31 – How can I know what possible side effects I could experience during a clinical trial? What happens if I get side effects?
56:35 – Can a clinical trial accelerate a disease?

Cancer research at Icon

To learn more about clinical trials, what participating in a clinical trial involves, and the clinical trials currently being delivered at Icon centres across Australia, we encourage you to visit our Research page.

See clinical trials that are coming soon and are open for recruitment at Icon Cancer Centre.

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