Breaking Down the Benefits of Clinical Trial Participation in Cancer Care

Clinical trial participation can help researchers learn more about diseases like cancer — in this case, prostate cancer — and provide access to potentially lifesaving therapies that may not be available to those outside of the trial, according to the National Cancer Institute website.

Moreover, the website goes on to add that with additional eyes on you from the research team, there is an extra layer of care for your health. Additionally, according to the University of Kansas Medical Center website, a clinical trial provides patients with an active role in important treatment decisions that affect their care.

In an interview with CURE, live from the 2025 American Urological Association Annual Meeting, Dr. Scott T. Tagawa discussed what patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer should know about the potential benefits and risks of participating in a clinical trial.

Tagawa is a professor of medicine and urology at Weill Cornell Medicine, as well as an attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York.

Transcript:

There are many different types of trials. I'm not going to delve into phase 0 and 4 [studies], but initial studies, like phase 1, really aim to show the safety of either a combination of drugs or a new drug. Phase 2 [studies] typically look for some sort of response, some sort of cancer control. In phase 3 [investigations], the trial typically takes something new and compares it [with] a standard treatment. Sometimes there are multiple standard treatments; sometimes there's no real standard. [These trials], like many, are randomized, so [the patient cannot choose which one they're treated with]; it isn't a choice.

In comparison, a patient looking for something that is at least the standard of care would consider [a phase 3 trial] because it includes the standard of care but [also includes] something that is perhaps a little bit more. Some people use the term "more aggressive," which I think is true; two treatments versus one is a little bit more aggressive, hopefully leading to better cancer control, possibly at the expense of some more side effects.

I think it's reasonable that a patient might enter a trial looking to help themselves, help their family, etc., while also helping others. So, whether a trial is positive or negative, we are going to learn scientifically, and we are going to help the next version of trials that are out there.

Even the negative trials are actually quite helpful to both the patients who are participating as well as those who come after them.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

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