Clinical Trials

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In 2008, my mom entered into a clinical trial called "Beatrice" to test the drug Bevacizumab (Avastin) on early stage, triple-negative breast cancer patients. Avastin has an approved indication for certain types of metastatic colorectal cancer, lung cancer, glioblastoma and metastatic renal cancer. At the time, the decision to enter into a clinical trial was a crucially difficult one. While the medicines, laboratory tests and professional fees were all free, our primary fear was my mom becoming a guinea pig. The doctor also handed us an overwhelmingly long list of possible side effects, which raised our fears and almost made us back off. But we did our own research and sought the advice of different doctors and friends. What convinced me was when a friend in J&J whose line of work was in clinical research for the US and Asia Pacific said that in clinical trials, they give the best medicine plus the test drug.

We now know that just last year (2011) the US FDA revoked its approval of breast cancer indication because they concluded that its not safe and effective for breast CA. Avastin also didn't really work for my mom since her cancer recurred and metastasized, but she doesn't regret entering into a clinical trial at all. Because most clinical trials have safeguards to protect the patients and not cause harm. Health care professionals follow the hippocratic oath "Primum Non Nocere: First do no harm." Some considerations would be the the type of trial, the institution carrying it out, and the country on which the trial is based. Ask and ask and ask questions. In the Philippines, teaching institutions such as the Philippine General Hospital, Veterans Memorial Medical Center and the University of Santo Tomas Hospital have cancer research centers where these trials are available for certain kinds of cancer.

Personally, I think that clinical trials can grant patients access to the latest and potentially life-saving medicines that are not yet available here in the Philippines. Most of the medicines, lab tests and professional fees are free, which could amount to hundreds of thousands of pesos. More so, support of cancer research can save lives at present and in the future. To know more about clinical trials, visit http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/info/understand.