Learn the Types and Phases of Clinical Trials

Clinical trial phases

Clinical trials are typically carried out in stages that build on one another. Each phase is intended to provide answers to specific questions. Knowing the clinical trial phase is crucial because it might give you an indication of how much is known about the treatment under study.

 

Each stage of a clinical trial offers advantages and disadvantages. Although clinical trials for gadgets and other diseases and treatments exist, medications for cancer patients are used in the clinical trial phases detailed here.

Clinical studies in phase 0: Investigating whether and how a novel medication might function

Even though phase 0 investigations are conducted in humans, they are not the same as the other phases of clinical trials. This phase’s goal is to help expedite and streamline the medication approval process. Phase 0 studies may assist researchers in determining if the medications perform as intended. This could save time and money that would otherwise be spent on later phase trials.

In phase 0 investigations, only a few modest doses of a new medicine are administered to a limited number of people. They may investigate whether the drug reaches the tumor, how the drug operates in the human body, and how cancer cells respond to the drug in the human body.

As part of the process, participants in these studies may require further testing, such as biopsies, scans, and blood samples.

 

Unlike earlier rounds of clinical studies, persons in phase 0 trials have absolutely no chance of benefiting. The benefit will accrue to others in the future. Furthermore, because the medicine doses are minimal, participants participating in the trial face less danger.

Phase 0 studies are not extensively performed, and they would be ineffective for several medications. Phase 0 studies are typically small, with fewer than 15 participants, and the medicine is administered for a brief period of time. They are not essential in the testing of new medicine.