After going over what all of these things mean, here are some questions about new treatments you will want answered:
- Was the new treatment tested in the lab (on cells in a dish, called in vitro), in animals, or in humans (in vivo)?
- Who did the study? Was it done at a reputable cancer treatment center?
- Are there other studies that were done before that support this outcome?
- If the study was done in humans, how many were involved?
- Was there a control group (people who got standard treatment)?
- Were similar people chosen at random to get either the standard treatment or the new treatment (randomized)?
- Was the study blinded (were the patients and/or doctors kept from knowing who got which treatment while the patient was being watched for the effects of the treatment)?
- Was there a difference in outcome between the group taking standard treatment and the group taking the new treatment?
- Was the difference in outcome measured in survival, recurrence, symptoms, or some other marker?
- Was the study published in a respected, peer-reviewed journal, or was it presented at a conference or sent out in a press release?
- Is the treatment still in clinical trials in humans or has it been approved by the FDA?
- If the treatment hasn't been approved, is it available through expanded access or compassionate use? (Compassionate drug use is when seriously ill patients use a new, unapproved drug when no other treatments are available. Call us to learn more about this.)
- Is the treatment likely to be harmful to me? What is known about side effects?
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