Clinical Trials
Cancer Australia and its National Consumer Advisory Group aims to improve consumer access to, and participation in, cancer clinical trials in Australia, in order to improve the standard of care for people affected by cancer through research.
There is presently no means for consumers to access consumer-friendly information about cancer clinical trials in Australia. The Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry provides some information about cancer clinical trials but does not always include the information consumers need to make decisions about joining trials, such as:
stage of cancers (specific to each type of cancer)
type of cancer treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, gene therapy etc)
travel requirements (intervention delivered at home, GP or local hospital, tertiary hospital)
benefits to participants in a cancer clinical trial
cost implications (eg whether participants are paid to participate or reimbursed for out of pocket costs, etc)
Cancer Australia and its National Consumer Advisory Group in partnership with the University of Sydney and the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry are developing a website to provide consumer-friendly access to information about current cancer clinical trials. Consumers have been extensively involved in the development of this website, with a consumer as a chief investigator on the research team responsible for the evaluation of the website.
Providing easily understood information on cancer clinical trials will enable people affected by cancer to make an informed decision on the benefits of taking part.
Cancer Australia is committed to making this consumer friendly website about cancer clinical trials available to the Australian community in order to increase consumer knowledge and participation in cancer clinical trials.
Cancer Australia with the support of its advisory group has valued the partnership with the University of Sydney and the NHMRC Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry in working collaboratively to achieve this aim. The consumer friendly, cancer clinical trials website will be made available in early 2010, following completion of the study to formally evaluate the site.