Clinical Trials

woman staring into the camera

Cancer Research at Enloe

Researchers at Enloe Health’s Regional Cancer Center are advancing medicine through clinical trials. These trials help develop new treatments, medications and screening methods.

Enloe patients can join these trials, which are driven by trusted Enloe caregivers. When you participate you:

May be among the first to benefit from a new treatment
Will help others by contributing to medical advancements
Will be closely monitored and receive high-quality care

A Powerful Affiliation

Enloe Health and UC Davis Health are bringing leading-edge cancer research and clinical trials to the North State.

As the newest affiliate of the UC Davis Health Cancer Care Network, Enloe Health can now open innovative clinical trials with the full support of UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. Learn more.

Clinical Trials Explained

So, what are clinical trials? They’re research studies done with people that check the safety and effectiveness of new tests or treatments. Most clinical trials go through a series of phases:

Phase 0

Phase 0 trials are the earliest stage of testing in people and involve few subjects. Their goal is to learn how the body uses an agent and how that agent affects the body.

These trials do not tell researchers how safe or effective a new technology is. However, they do help researchers decide if a trial should move on to Phase I.

Phase I

Phase I trials check how a new therapy should be given, how often and in what dosage. The focus of these trials is to find out information about the safety of the therapy for the next phase.

Phase II

Phase II trials begin providing information on how well a new therapy works, and provide more information about the therapy’s safety and benefits. These trials usually focus on a certain type of cancer.

Phase III

Phase III trials compare a promising new therapy, treatment or procedure with one that’s currently used.

These trials often involve lots of people and may be done in clinics, cancer centers or cancer research centers, nationwide, or worldwide.

Phase IV

Phase IV trials include the ongoing study that takes place after the Food and Drug Administration approves a therapy. During these trials the therapy being tested is available for general use.

What to Expect

Cancer survivor and her daughter Lots of research goes into clinical trials at Enloe, even before they’re tested. Then participants are monitored closely by researchers and regulations are in place for safety. In fact, all U.S. clinical trials at cancer research centers and elsewhere must be overseen by an institutional review board (IRB).

However, that’s not to say clinical trials can’t have negative effects. They could:

Be less effective than other treatments
Cause unpleasant or serious side effects
Require more of your time than normal treatments; you may need more doctor visits, tests or complex dosages

If you decide to participate in a clinical trial at the Cancer Center, you’ll need to provide informed consent. To help you, Enloe researchers will explain the facts about the clinical trial, so you can decide if you want to participate. You’ll learn:

What will be studied and how
What treatments and medical tests will be used during the trial
What information will be collected
Your rights, including your right to leave the study at any time
All the treatment options that might be right for you
Who is on the research team and their contact information

Afterward, you’ll be asked to sign a consent form if you decide to participate. Currently, patients are participating in several clinical trials at Enloe. Each clinical trial at Enloe has specific criteria patients must meet to be eligible to participate.