Breast Cancer Clinical Trials
The St. Elizabeth Breast Center is committed to providing our patients with compassionate care and the latest breast cancer treatment options available. Clinical trials are often an essential piece of a patient’s individualized treatment plan. Our team offers patients access to clinical trials at every stage of breast cancer, from pre-treatment to remission and survivorship.
A full list of clinical trials currently offered at St. Elizabeth is available online. All of our clinical trials are sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and/or the NCI National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) and can also be found at clinicaltrials.gov.
Clinical Trials: The Myths
Clinical trials allow medical teams to make ground-breaking and life-saving advances in the fight against cancer. The Cancer Care team at St. Elizabeth is committed to providing our patients with the best possible care – including access to clinical trials. Below are some of the most frequent myths about participating in a clinical trial.
Myth #1: Clinical trials are a “last chance” option.
Fact: All clinical trials offered at the St. Elizabeth Breast Center build upon the “standard of care” treatment – meaning you will get exactly the same treatment regimen as you would if not doing the clinical trial, plus the additional component of the clinical trial. It’s not a last chance – in fact, it’s an opportunity for the medical community to learn from your journey. Clinical trials are how the medical field makes life-saving breakthroughs.
Myth #2: Patients in clinical trials are guinea pigs.
Fact: All St. Elizabeth Breast Center clinical trials are selected to be as beneficial as possible to the health of our patients. When you participate in a clinical trial, you receive the traditional care of your medical team as well as additional support from the clinical trial research team. It may mean a few extra appointments, but it’s also an opportunity to keep the communication lines open with your medical team.
Myth #3: Clinical trials are competitive.
Fact: There isn’t a competition between St. Elizabeth and other TriState breast cancer facilities – we truly want you to go where you feel most comfortable. The St. Elizabeth Breast Center will work collaboratively with other area breast cancer facilities if our Breast Center isn’t running a clinical trial that is best suited for a particular patient. In addition, all clinical trials are randomized – a “better” patient can’t be selected. Everyone involved in the study is an excellent patient providing critical data and information to the research team.