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from the very-few-things-in-life-are-100%,-except-death dept.
The lack of participation in clinical research may be the Achilles' heel of today's cancer community. According to a new survey of more than 1,500 consumers and nearly 600 physicians conducted on behalf of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), only 35 percent of Americans indicated that they were "likely" to enroll in a clinical trial. Other studies have shown that only 4 percent of cancer patients enroll in clinical trials nationally each year.
Additionally, the new data shows that only 40 percent of Americans have a positive overall impression of clinical trials. Taken together, these statistics are sobering given that nearly every advance in cancer today was first evaluated in a clinical trial. Clinical research is increasingly dependent upon larger numbers of cancer patients participating. Fortunately, education makes a measurable and immediate difference. After reading a brief statement defining clinical trials, the number of respondents who had a positive impression of these studies jumped significantly, from 40 to 60 percent.
"When it comes to advancing cancer care, clinical research is the rocket fuel for better treatments, more accurate diagnoses, and, ultimately, cures," said José Baselga, MD, PhD, Physician-in-Chief and Chief Medical Officer at MSK, where more than 900 cancer clinical trials are currently under way. "If this trend of low enrollment continues, we will face a crisis in cancer research and discovery. Further education is the key to participation and progress."
Consumer respondents cited a range of concerns as barriers to clinical trial participation:
• Worry over side effects / safety (55 percent)
• Uncertainty about insurance and out-of-pocket costs (50 percent)
• Inconvenience of trial locations (48 percent)
• Concerns about getting a placebo (46 percent)
• Skeptical of a treatment that is not yet proven to work (35 percent)
• Worries over feeling like "guinea pigs" (34 percent)
Experiences like the Tuskegee Experiments reduce the public's willingness to trust medical personnel? You don't say...
(Score: 4, Informative) by gOnZo on Wednesday May 25 2016, @10:31AM
It seems two-faced to me for scientists and the drug companies funding their research to bemoan the sad state of altruism in the general populace by failing to support their quest for effective treatments to the scourge of our age - which affects US ALL. Yet after the clinical trials are done, the drug companies make billions in profits flogging their wares to THE REST OF US. Funny how altruism goes out the window.