While clinical trials are important, the choice to participate in one is very personal and depends on your unique situation. As with any breast cancer treatment, you and your doctor need to weigh the benefits against the risks and decide what’s best for you.
Clinical trials are just one type of research that’s done before a new treatment becomes available to people. New medicines must first be discovered, purified, and tested in preclinical trials before researchers even think about clinical trials.
According to the American Cancer Society, about 1,000 potential medicines are tested before one makes it to clinical trials. On average, a new medicine to treat breast cancer has been studied for at least six years (and sometimes many more) before a clinical trial using it can be considered.