Clinical Trials

As you and your doctor consider your options for treatment, you may wish to consider participating in a clinical trial. Clinical trials are research studies designed to find better ways to treat cancer and help cancer patients. The results of these trials help your doctor change the way he or she treats cancer to provide the best treatment possible. Clinical trials test many types of treatment such as new drugs, new combinations of treatments, new approaches to surgery or radiation therapy, or new methods such as vaccine or gene therapy.

Today, cancer research is no longer conducted exclusively at large university cancer centers or major metropolitan hospitals. Community-based oncology practices such as Northwest Cancer Specialists play a critical role in the development of new treatment options for patients. NCS physicians believe clinical trials are an important component of cancer care and are crucial for improving cancer treatment. Our physicians review the results of these trials continually and change the way they treat your cancer based on these results.

There are currently hundreds of ongoing clinical trials in the United States. As part of the US Oncology network and through its affiliation with the Columbia River Oncology Program and Oregon Health & Science University, NCS has access to a large variety of clinical trials. US Oncology typically has 100 open trials and works with nearly 50 pharmaceutical and biotech companies. NCS has more than 30 open trials for cancer treatment and over 500 NCS patients have been involved in a clinical research study. By offering community-based clinical research focusing on leading edge cancer treatments, NCS continues to search for better ways to treat cancer patients.