Professor Min Jie: If I cannot afford targeted drugs/immune drugs, can I still participate in clinical trials?

#Benefits of participating in clinical research

According to relevant national laws and regulations, participating in clinical research has the following main benefits:

1. Try the latest drugs: You have the opportunity to get in touch with the latest drugs that have not yet been marketed, which is especially important for treating difficult-to-cure diseases such as tumors;

2. The treatment process is guaranteed: The treatment plan is strictly implemented in accordance with the research plan approved by government departments and ethics committees, and the entire treatment process is subject to quality control supervision;

3. Free of charge: Related examinations and medications are free of charge, which will provide some relief to the financial situation.

#Things to consider when participating in clinical research

Participating in clinical research also has certain limitations and risks:

1 Potential side effects: There is limited experience with new drugs. Despite strict protective measures, there may be rare, previously unknown, and serious side effects.

2. Uncertain effectiveness: Although the drug performs well in animal experiments, the human response may not be satisfactory or even ineffective;

3 Strict implementation requirements: The research protocol also requires the subjects to strictly follow the time, method and adverse reaction report of medication, and the drug dosage cannot be adjusted at will;

4. Medication safety restrictions: For safety reasons, patients cannot combine other medications at will. If certain drugs must be used to treat other diseases, the use of research new drugs may be required to be terminated.

#Unaffordable targeted/immune drugs Participating in clinical trials is the best option for some patients

Combining the above advantages and disadvantages, from an economic perspective, participating in clinical research is a good way to solve the high cost of treatment; but from a physical or disease perspective, clinical research may not be the best choice for all patients. The clinical research plan will be combined with the adverse reactions seen or predicted in previous studies, and there will be dozens of organ function restrictions for each subject. For example, lung cancer patients with severe interstitial pneumonia cannot participate in clinical research on immunotherapy, because immune drugs can cause immune pneumonia, which is life-threatening to patients; secondly, clinical research on new drugs may have negative results, that is, the result that the new drug treatment is ineffective. Therefore, even if it is expensive, clinical research on targeted drugs or immune drugs is the best choice for some patients.