Drug Trial Question

DMike
DMike Member Posts: 259
in Kidney Cancer #1
Do all drug trials include a placebo? I was asked to participate in an Everolimus trial for stage 1 kidney cancer patients. The goal was to see if this drug which is designed for stage 3/4 patients would stop recurrence if used by stage 1 patients. This trial does use a placebo and since I've never been involved in anything like this I just wanted to know if all trials use placebos. I'm under the impression they do. Thanks.
--David

Comments

  • foxhd
    foxhd Member Posts: 3,181 Member
    #2
    placebo
    Yes. Some trials do include a placebo. But they will tell you if that is part of the trial.
  • Texas_wedge
    Texas_wedge Member Posts: 2,798
    #3
    foxhd said:

    placebo
    Yes. Some trials do include a placebo. But they will tell you if that is part of the trial.

    placebo
    They'll need to tell you because placebo trials are considered undesirable these days and are only used if there's no alternative possible. With new treatments it's not always feasible to mount a non-placebo trial and making progress would be hampered if there were a total embargo.

Discussion Boards