Major Survey Reveals Cancer Patients Unaware of Clinical Trials;
Health Experts Blame Lack of Awareness for Low Enrollment
[05/22/2000; PR Newswire]
NEW ORLEANS, May 22 /PRNewswire/ -- An alarming number of cancer
patients
say they were never told about the possibility of enrolling in a
clinical
trial for treatment of their disease, according to major survey released
at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting here.
In a survey of nearly 6,000 cancer patients conducted via telephone
and Internet by Harris Interactive, an independent polling organization,
84 percent said they were either unaware or not sure that participation
in a clinical trial was an option.
``We can advance the development of new treatments for cancer much
more quickly if more patients had the opportunity to enroll
in trials,'' said Robert Comis, MD, Chairman of the Eastern Oncology
Cooperative Group and the lead author of an abstract of the
survey findings presented at ASCO. ``We also found that patients who
were aware of clinical trials and enrolled in one, were
overwhelmingly satisfied with their care and treatment,'' Dr. Comis
added.
The survey was supported by the Coalition of National Cancer Cooperative
Groups, the Cancer Research Foundation of America,
the Cancer Leadership Council, and the Oncology Nursing Society.
The full article can be found at:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/000522/la_can_cli.html
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