As a member of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN), the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology bridges the gap between scientific discovery and the patients who need it most. By bringing together more than 26,000 top cancer researchers across the country, the Alliance is uniquely equipped to answer the most pressing questions in cancer medicine.
To understand the scale and impact of our work, it helps to first understand one of the foundations of all modern medical advancements: the clinical trial itself.
A clinical trial is a highly structured research study designed to find out whether a new medical approach is safe for humans and more effective compared to other treatment options. Before any cancer treatment reaches a human, it must go through a rigorous, multi-phase journey to ensure it does more good than harm. Clinical trials may look at several critical areas of cancer care:
- Treatment: Testing new medications, therapy combinations, surgical techniques or advanced radiation treatment.
- Prevention and screening: Finding better ways to prevent cancer in healthy individuals or detect the disease at its earliest, most treatable stage.
- Quality of life (sometimes called cancer control [link to cancer control page]): Identifying ways to lessen the side effects of cancer and its treatments.
Clinical trials are conducted in stages, called phases, with each phase answering a different question about a new treatment.
- Phase I – Is the treatment safe? A small group of people (sometimes just 15-30) receives the treatment. Researchers determine the safest dose, identify side effects, and learn how the body responds to the treatment.
- Phase II – Does the treatment work? A larger group of people (typically around 100) with a specific type of cancer receiving treatment. Researchers evaluate whether it shows signs of working while continuing to monitor its safety.
- Phase III – Is the treatment better than the standard treatment? This is the largest and most important stage of testing (often involving a few hundred to a few thousand individuals.) Researchers compare the new treatment with the current standard of care to determine which provides better outcomes. The results of Phase III studies often provide the evidence needed for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to decide whether the treatment should be approved for routine clinical use.
- Phase IV – What happens after the treatment is approved? After a treatment is approved and used in everyday medical practice, researchers continue to monitor its safety and effectiveness in larger numbers of patients over longer periods. This ongoing research helps identify uncommon or long-term side effects, determine the best ways to use the treatment, and better understand how it performs in real-world settings.
The Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology represents the historical culmination of more than 70 years of cancer research to find new and improved ways to treat and prevent cancer. Learn more about our history. [link to history page]
When participants enroll in an Alliance clinical trial–and investigators join the Alliance research network–they become part of one of North America’s largest collaborative cancer research networks. More than 26,000 physicians, scientists, statisticians, nurses, pharmacists, clinical research professionals, and patient representatives work together across leading academic medical centers, hospitals, and community practices throughout the United States to advance cancer prevention, treatment, and survivorship.
Backed by decades of leadership in National Cancer Institute (NCI)-supported clinical research and a legacy dating back to 1956, the Alliance conducts innovative clinical trials that have changed standards of care, informed national treatment guidelines, and improved outcomes for oncology patients everywhere.
Active Alliance trials
Through partnerships with the NCI National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) and NCI Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) as well as Alliance Foundation Trials (AFT), the Alliance offers access to clinical trials that often explore promising therapies, technologies, and research strategies.
Explore the links below to find Alliance clinical trials that are currently enrolling participants or have recently finished and have published results. If you identify a trial or a treatment that may be appropriate for you, discuss it directly with your healthcare team to determine whether you a trial or a treatment may be right for you.