8 Reasons You Should Take Part In A Clinical Trial

When people are given the news that they have a potentially life threatening disease they go through a mixture of emotions. In some cases they may feel helpless, they may ask 'why me?' and be frustrated over their perceived lack of control. Taking part in a clinical trial offers one option of regaining that control.

Being a trial participant does not guarantee that you're going to be given a new or experimental treatment though - patients are randomly assigned to groups in a trial, so you may end up in the placebo group. A trial can still benefit you as you will be more closely monitored than you would throughout standard care.

Signing up for a clinical trial is not a decision that should be taken lightly; it's a big decision to make and something that isn't right for everyone. For others though, they can feel empowered by being a participant in a trial. 1 in 6 cancer patients takes part in a clinical trial in the UK each year, a figure that's raised from 1 in 26 a decade ago. When asked why they decided to take part in a trial, the majority responded that they wanted to feel in control of their own healthcare, and a trial gave them that opportunity.