ABC News
August 1, 2006

  http://abcnews.go.com/us/popup?id=2262371

Shortage of Patients in Cancer Trials
Lack of Volunteers for Cancer Studies

  {Excerpts from 2 links at about URL........}

"We have a lot of trials where we can't get enough patients, the trial
closes early, and that means agents (drugs) that might show a lot of
promise in treating cancer never get to the market.  Nationwide, this
happens in 25 to 30 percent of clinical cancer trials.  Patients need
to understand that we need their help to make progress."
Dr. Julie Vose, chief of oncology/hemtology at the University of
Nebraska Medical Center

"[The problem is] the physicians not being attuned to discuss the
possibilities and pointng out the advantages of being involved in a
clinical trial.  You need to have a coordinator to help the physicians,
to detail all the work."
Dr. Ronald Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer
Institute

There are more than 400 cancer drugs now in clinical trials, many of
which are experimental medicines with the potential to treat some of
the most lethal and common forms of cancer.

The only problem is that researchers are running out of cancer patients
to test all these new drugs on.

"Only about 3 percent of cancer patients participate in cancer clinical
thrials," said dr. Robert comis, a clinical trial expert and board
president of the Coalition of Cancer Cooperative Groups.

Three percent is not nearly enough to test the expanding number of
cancer drugs now in development, Comis said.

For the cancer patitent, waiting for that new drug may come too late.

Surprisingly, the most comon reason patients don't enroll is that they
don't know they can.

Only 10 percent of doctors tell patients about clinical trials.