Clinical Trial Awareness

Clinical trials and the patients who participate in them are vital to developing new colorectal cancer treatments. And participating in a clinical trial can expand your treatment options.

Clinical trials are sometimes seen as a last option for patients, but they are not. While some patients seek trial participation because their previous treatment has not been successful, it is essential to consider clinical trials early in the diagnostic and treatment process. There are ongoing clinical trials of treatments that target colorectal cancer with specific biomarkers, and multiple prior treatments may affect eligibility for participation.

GCCA’s Clinical Trial Awareness resources are designed to help increase patient knowledge about clinical trials and promote awareness of trials for colorectal cancer treatment.

Clinical Trial Awareness also includes a focus on making clinical trials more accessible to patients at all stages of diagnosis and treatment. Clinical trial participants should be representative of the larger population of colorectal cancer patients who will use the treatment being tested. Overly restrictive exclusion criteria, as well as the demands of clinical trial participation, can stand in the way of this goal. Under the umbrella of the Clinical Trial Awareness program, GCCA is partnering with industry to improve clinical trial design, patient recruitment, and participant retention. GCCA provides feedback to clinical trial designers about potentially restrictive clinical trial exclusion criteria and trial characteristics that make it difficult for patients to participate.