Clinical Trials
Cancer Center Clinical Trials Office
At the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, our goal is to provide you with the most up-to-date information on treatments that are available to you and your loved ones, who have been diagnosed with cancer. Our team believes in putting the patient first, by ensuring that we present all available treatment options, including the possibility of participating in a clinical trial.
What are Clinical Trials?
Clinical trials are research studies that are designed to answer scientific questions and find better ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat various diseases and conditions, including cancer.
A clinical trial is one of the final stages of a long and careful cancer research process. The search for new treatments begins in the laboratory, where scientists first develop and test new ideas. If an approach seems promising, the next step may be testing a treatment in animals to see how it affects cancer in a living being, and whether it has harmful side effects. Of course, treatments that work well in the lab or in animals do not always work well in humans. Studies are then done with cancer patients to find out whether promising treatments are safe and effective.
- Some of the most successful cancer treatments that we have today are based on what we have learned from clinical trials.
- Because of clinical trials, people with cancer are living longer, with a better quality of life.
- Participating in clinical trials at UI Health, means that you will receive compassionate health care, with close monitoring by our team of expert researchers, physicians, nurses, pharmacists and clinical staff.
