Clinical trials are crucial in the process of finding cures for diseases.
According to a survey sponsored by New York’s Memorial Sloan Cancer Center, clinical trials don’t attract the attention of Americans. What is even more concerning, is the fact that even if a clinical trial is advertised, only three in ten individuals show interest in participating. These results are concerning seeing as every medical breakthrough depends on the success of the trial.
The researchers surveyed over 1,500 adult individuals with ages between 18 and 69. More than half of the participants declared that they wouldn’t enroll in a clinical trial for fear of safety and side effects. A large amount of the surveyed individuals were concerned about costs and insurance coverage. Finally, the possibility of receiving a placebo, or an inconvenient trial location made half of them pass on the opportunity of participating in such an experiment.
Cancer is probably the most concerning affection of our century. There are numerous types of this illness, some treatable, some even curable, but most are claiming more lives than any other disease on this planet.
There are entire centers built with the sole purpose of searching for cures for the terrible disorder. However, all the work of the researchers could prove to be in vain if nobody signs up to participate in clinical trials.
Moreover, previous studies have shown that in the past years, only four percent of cancer patients from the United States enrolled in a clinical trial. Cancer researchers say that this reluctance ultimately leads to trials made on small, inconclusive samples of volunteers. In cases like that, possibly functional treatments are dismissed by the FDA due to a lack of clear data.
“When it comes to advancing cancer care, clinical research is the rocket fuel for better treatments, more accurate diagnoses and, ultimately, cures,” declared a chief medical officer at the Memorial Sloan Cancer Centre, Jose Baselga.
According to Baselga, presently, there are over 900 undergoing cancer trials at the Cancer Center, most of them suffering from a lack of volunteers.
Misinformation is one of the leading reasons for which Americans decide to reject the opportunity of participating in a clinical trial. More than a third stated that they don’t want to take part in clinical trials because “they would feel like a guinea pig,” or they were skeptic about the effects of the drugs.
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