Clinical Trials: Cutting-Edge Cancer Care
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The UNM Cancer Center has always been committed to providing the highest level of care possible. Since 2000, we have hired more than 60 new board-certified oncology physicians to join our team. We are now New Mexico’s largest team of cancer experts, and our physicians provide cancer care that is unmatched in the state. Currently, we have more than 85 cancer physicians representing every cancer specialty, who work closely with our more than 120 cancer research scientists in multidisciplinary teams to bring you the very latest in cancer care.
Our Role
As a leading cancer research center, we are not only treating cancer with the most sophisticated technologies available, but we are always searching for new treatments and cures. Our main research goal is to better understand how cancer works and use that knowledge to develop more effective treatments. An important aspect of that research is our clinical trials, which can offer patients the most cutting-edge cancer- fighting therapies. Cancer clinical trials have greatly helped to advance the areas of cancer prevention, treatment and diagnosis.
About Clinical Trials
Every drug on the market today has gone through an extensive testing process to ensure that it is safe and effective. This process starts in the laboratory, and after years of successful lab results, is moved into human testing through clinical trials. Clinical trials are among the last steps taken before a drug is fully approved for use in the general public. Cancer treatments are no different, and every new therapy must be carefully reviewed before it is approved as safe and effective. Patients who choose to take part in a clinical trial not only have access to the latest therapies, but they are helping to advance knowledge about cancer and cancer treatments.
What You Should Know
With our designation from the National Cancer Institute, we are able to offer access to clinical trials from across the nation. At any given time, the UNM Cancer Center has about 300 open clinical trials. Clinical trials have many potential benefits, including providing patients with access to promising new treatments that are often not available outside the clinical trial setting. These treatments could be more effective than the standard approach, and those participating in the study are regularly monitored by a dedicated team of researchers. Furthermore, as a clinical trials participant, you have the knowledge that you are helping to develop new cancer treatments and furthering our efforts in the fight against cancer.
Although you will be under constant supervision, there are risks to consider. If everything about the new treatments was fully understood, there would be no need for clinical trials. Therefore, it is important to understand that new drugs or procedures used in the clinical trial are not always better than existing treatments and may have side effects that doctors do not expect or that are worse than those resulting from standard care. In addition, participants in clinical trials will not always be able to choose the approach they receive and may be required to make more visits to the doctor than they would if they were not in the clinical trial. The decision to participate in a clinical trial is one that should be considered carefully with your physician, family and loved ones.
All clinical trials are voluntary. You always have the right to choose whether or not you will take part in a clinical trial. Regardless of your decision to participate or not, you will always receive the highest level of care possible, and you have the right to leave a clinical trial at any time, for any reason. About 35 percent of UNM Cancer Center patients are treated through cancer clinical trials.
How to Participate
Every person on faculty and staff at the UNM Cancer Center is dedicated to providing you with the very best cancer care possible. To learn more about clinical trials, the potential benefits and risks, or to find out if a clinical trial is right for you, contact our Clinical Trials Office at 505-272-5490 or by e-mail at clinicaltrialinfo@salud.unm.edu. You can also search our Clinical Trials Database, visit our Clinical Trials Information pages or call our statewide clinical trials network, the New Mexico Cancer Care Alliance at 505-272-7813.