Icon’s experienced cancer specialists from Singapore and Australia, including Dr Karmen Wong, A/Prof Jim Coward, Dr Hsieh Wen-Son and Prof Sandro Porceddu, recently featured in a global webinar on cancer research where they discussed clinical trials for a wide range of cancer types.

The panel answered a variety of questions from our patients including:

• 2:00 – What does it mean when we talk about the different ‘phases’ of clinical trials?
• 2:23 – What is a phase 1 clinical trial?
• 3:18 – What is the difference between a phase 1A and a phase 1B clinical trial?
• 4:52 – What is a phase 2 clinical trial?
• 5:25 – What is a phase 3 clinical trial?
• 6:30 – What are some of the recent advances in treatment for cancers, such as lung, breast, colon and ovarian cancer, that have now been put into practice as a result of findings from phase 3 clinical trials?
• 12:44 – How do I know if clinical trials are right for me as a patient?
• 15:50 – How do I find a clinical trial that might be suitable for me?
• 16:41 – If I find a clinical trial through a website such as clinicaltrials.gov , how can I understand as much as possible about a clinical trial to know if it is suitable for me?
• 17:46 – Are clinical trials safe? What safety measures are built into clinical trials to keep me safe?
• 24:55 – What is an investigator-initiated clinical trial?
• 25:44 – What are some of the recent advances in cancer treatment using stereotactic radiation therapy for advanced cancer that has spread to the lungs following investigator-initiated clinical trials?
• 27:02 – How are investigator-initiated clinical trials developed by oncologists and what checks do they go through before they are opened to patients?
• 29:17 – Would you participate in a clinical trial as a ‘last resort’ only?
• 31:00 – If I am being told by a doctor that there are no clinical trials available to me, how can I find out about clinical trials that might be available at other centres and internationally?
• 33:20 – Why are some patients given a placebo during a clinical trial? Could I be given a placebo and not a real drug?
• 37:20 – How can I find out what results a clinical trial is having and what people on the trial are experiencing so I can decide whether to participate in it?
• 39:20 – Are clinical trials free?
• 42:02 – Are there any clinical trials that are investigating intravenous vitamin C as a cancer treatment?
• 43:05 – If a clinical trial is open in a number of different countries, is it always started in those countries at the same time? Can I travel overseas to participate in a clinical trial?
• 47:15 – Are there any clinical trials for advanced pancreatic cancer? Does immunotherapy work for pancreatic cancer?
• 49:20 – How can I find a clinical trial for a rare cancer?
• 50:49 – Are there any clinical trials that are investigating screening tests for lung cancer?
• 51:18 – Are there any clinical trials that combine both radiation therapy and chemotherapy at Icon Cancer Centre or at other cancer centres internationally?
• 52:31 – How can I know what possible side effects I could experience during a clinical trial? What happens if I get side effects?
• 56:35 – Can a clinical trial accelerate a disease?