I am looking for a clinical trial

Some of the reasons people look for a clinical trial may include: living with a condition or a disease; having a loved one such as a family member or good friend who lives with a condition or a disease; and being interested in research. Sometimes healthy participants are provided with compensation for their participation in a clinical trial and this may be motivation for some people to participate.

While participation in a clinical trial is one option, the other options to consider may be:

• Receiving no treatment.
• Receiving standard treatment or a different form of treatment than the one you are currently on if you live with a disease or condition.
• Participation in a different research study.

Talking to your doctor about potential known benefits and risks of these other options (including no treatment) may be helpful.

Yes. You can say no to a clinical trial that your health care provider offers you if you don’t feel that it’s the right choice for you. Your relationship with your health care provider should not change no matter what you decide about a clinical trial.

People find clinical trials in different ways. 

Some people talk to their health care providers about finding a clinical trial. Health care providers may have different levels of knowledge and comfort talking about clinical trials. Depending on your health care provider’s experience or resources, they might be able to provide more information for you or direct you to a resource or person who can.

Some health charities and patient organizations have information about specific clinical trials on their websites (usually under a clinical trials or research section) or have a phone number you can call to speak to someone to help you find a clinical trial.

Hospitals, including both community and academic hospitals, carry out clinical trials and may be a source of information. Some hospitals provide information directly on their website about local clinical trials. If you phone or email the hospital looking for more information, you may have to make more than one phone call or send more than one email to find the right person to help you.

Some people use websites to help them find a clinical trials. Clinical Trials Ontario has developed a website to help you find a clinical trial, which you can link to here. Clinical Trial Ontario’s clinical trial finder uses a well-known website called Clinicaltrials.gov where many clinical trials from around the world are registered and detailed clinical trial information is provided. If you find a clinical trial you are interested in, the contact information is provided on the site. 

You may also hear ads about clinical trials on the radio, and see them on tv, in the newspaper, on public transportation, in a doctor’s office, or in a hospital. Contact information is provided in these ads for people who are interested in learning more about these clinical trials.

There are some things that you should look for in helping you determine if a clinical trial is a good clinical trial for you, and may include:

• If you meet the eligibility criteria to participate in the clinical trial. In order to be accepted to participate in a clinical trial, you must meet certain criteria.
• If you are asked to pay to participate in a clinical trial. While you may be required to pay for expenses such as traveling to your appointments, parking, etc., you should not be asked to pay to participate in the clinical trial.
• The qualifications of the clinical trial team. Often people on the clinical trial team have worked in or studied the area of the clinical trial or have an affiliation with an academic institution such as a university.
• If the clinical trial application was reviewed by a regulatory agency. Examples of regulatory agencies are Health Canada and the US Food and Drug Administration. Health Canada’s role is to ensure Canadians have access to safe and effective drugs and health products, and they review all clinical trial applications.
• If the clinical trial was reviewed and approved by a research ethics board ( also called “REB” for short). The REB reviews proposed clinical trials with an aim to make sure they are acceptable from a Research Ethics Board perspective.
• If the clinical trial was reviewed and approved by the institution or organization (e.g. hospital) where the clinical trial is taking place.

There may be different reasons why you are not able to find a clinical trial. For example, there may be a clinical trial available but it is not at a location close to you or there may not be an intervention available yet to be tested for your disease or condition.

If there is a clinical trial available but it is being run at a location that is not close to you, there may still be possible ways to be in the study. You may wish to reach out to the study team contact to see if this is a possibility and how or if this might affect you (for example, will you have to pay for travel or accommodation?). You might also simply wish to keep up to date on research and check from time to time if there is a clinical trial available for your disease or condition.