Deciding to be in a clinical trial

Choosing to participate in a clinical trial is a personal decision, and your reasons for signing up may be different from someone else’s. It may help you feel more actively involved in the decisions about your treatment. You may join a trial because your treatments didn’t work or there are no other treatment options for your type or stage of cancer. Maybe you want the chance to have a new and promising treatment, such as targeted therapies. Or you may want to contribute to developing new ways to treat cancer, like personalized medicine.

Some people choose to be in a clinical trial because they want to contribute to the science that helps us understand cancer better. When you are in a clinical trial, you are part of the research that could bring new hope to others, maybe even your own family and loved ones.

Before deciding to take part, it’s important to learn all that you can about the trial. Talk to your healthcare team and to the clinical trials team. Ask lots of questions so you can make the best choice for you. Make sure that you understand the:

• type of trial
• risks and benefits
• costs and time involved

To make the decisions that are right for you, ask your healthcare team questions about clinical trials.

To protect your health, safety and privacy, every trial must follow strict rules and meet high standards.

Your safety is always being considered and monitored when you are part of a clinical trial. The trial may be stopped if:

• The early results of the trial show that the treatment being tested does not work as expected.
• Serious side effects occur during the clinical trial.
• Early results show that the new treatment being tested works better than standard treatment (the treatment that is accepted and commonly used to treat that type and stage of cancer). In this case, all the people in the clinical trial are offered the new treatment.

Taking part in a clinical trial is voluntary. You may leave the trial (this is called withdrawing your consent) at any time. This doesn’t mean that you won’t be treated any more. You will still be given the best standard treatment after leaving a clinical trial.

The clinical trial team may also take you out of the trial if they have concerns about your safety and well-being.

If you do decide to leave a clinical trial, let the clinical team know that you are leaving and why.

Some clinical trials are only available in certain provinces, and it’s possible that a clinical trial suitable to you may not be offered in the province you live in. If you are interested in participating in a trial that is not in your province, it’s important to understand your eligibility and any potential medical or travel expenses you may have to pay for yourself.

If there is an out-of-province clinical trial you’d like to participate in, you should talk to your healthcare team and to the clinical trials team responsible for the trial. Before having those conversations, some things to consider are:

When looking at all the trial’s eligibility requirements, also make sure that the clinical trial accepts out-of-province participants. 

In Canada, it’s not possible to have provincial health insurance in more than one province at a time, and medical expenses incurred outside of your home province are not always covered by your provincial health insurance plan. You may require pre-approval from your provincial health insurance plan if you are expected to have out-of-province scans, lab tests or other follow-up care in another province as part of the clinical trial process.

Costs associated with travelling to a different province to participate in a clinical trial, such as transportation and accommodation, typically aren’t covered. Ask the clinical trial coordinator if there are any financial stipends available, or if there’s reimbursement for any travel you would incur in order to participate in the clinical trial.