What you need to do when you agree to join a clinical trial or other research study depends on what kind of research it is. Some studies need preparation and ongoing follow-up, others involve a single visit or just a survey.
Your participation is usually organised by one person (often a clinical trials or research nurse or research assistant), but you may come into contact with different members of the research team.
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Finding out about the trial
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Checking you are eligible
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Deciding to join
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What to expect
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During the trial
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After the trial
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Communicating with the treatment team
- Keep contact details handy in case you have questions before, during or after the trial or study.
- If your clinical trials team has given you a participant card, keep this with you and show it to any other health professionals you see.
- If you join a clinical trial at a different hospital to the hospital where you started cancer treatment, you may have two treatment teams. In this case, make sure your medical information and any relevant test results are available to both treatment teams, and ask who your main contact person is.
- If you are in a trial and develop new or worsening symptoms, let your clinical trial and cancer care teams know immediately. If the symptoms are serious, go directly to your hospital’s emergency department and/or contact the oncology registrar at the hospital. It is important to tell the hospital you’re in a clinical trial and show them the participant card if you have one. If you go to hospital, let your clinical trials team know.
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All updated content has been clinically reviewed by A/Prof Brett Hughes, Senior Staff Specialist, Medical Oncology, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and The Prince Charles Hospital, and Associate Professor, The University of Queensland, QLD. This edition is based on the previous edition which was reviewed by the following panel: A/Prof Brett Hughes (see above); Christie Allan, Clinical Trials Lead, Cancer Council Victoria, VIC; Dawn Bedwell, 13 11 20 Consultant, Cancer Council Queensland, QLD; Joanne Benhamu, Senior Research Nurse, Team Lead, Lung, Colorectal and Palliative Care Trials, Parkville Cancer Clinical Trials Unit, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, VIC; Louise Dillon, Consumer; Sabina Jelinek, Clinical Nurse Research, St John of God Murdoch Hospital, WA; Chloe Jennett, Program Coodinator, Cancer Research, Cancer Council NSW; Carmel McCarthy, Consumer; Alison Richards, Research Unit Manager, Medical Oncology Clinical Trials Unit, Flinders Medical Centre, SA; Prof Jane Ussher, Translational Health Research Institute (THRI), School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, NSW; Prof Janette Vardy, Medical Oncologist, Concord Cancer Centre, and Professor of Cancer Medicine, The University of Sydney, NSW.
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