There may be risks to participation in a clinical trial. Every clinical trial has been reviewed by an independent ethics board. This board ensures that risks of participating are within reason and seen as similar to the regular treatment that patients receive. Some potential risks are:
- Some of the trials may be very early in treatment development. Therefore, the risks may not be known yet.
- New drugs/treatments may have side effects or risks that doctors do not expect or that are worse than those resulting from standard care.
- If the study involves more than one type of drug/treatment, participants may not be able to choose which drug/treatment they receive.
- Experimental treatment may not be effective.
- The study treatment may require more time involvement.