University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center
| By Cathleen Rineer-Garber, Communications and Publications Manager |
Clinical trials—studies that test potential treatments in human volunteers—are a cornerstone in medicine today. Treatments for nearly every known disease—cancer, asthma, diabetes, HIV, heart disease—have been improved, and continue to improve, through clinical trials.
“This is how we advance medicine,” says Kathleen Colleran, MD, medical director of the Clinical Trials Center at the UNM Health Sciences Center. “Clinical studies provide evidence-based research and result in significant improvements in patient care and disease management,” she says. “They also help set standards of care across all disciplines of medical practice.”
At the UNM HSC, there are more than 100 studies underway at any given time. These studies help to determine whether a new treatment—a drug, medical device, vaccine, or gene therapy, for instance—should be approved for wider use in the general population. Other trials promote the use of approved medications for novel uses. “All of the current and upcoming studies represent highly innovative tools to advance disease preventions and treatments,” says Colleran.
These studies, says Colleran, are beneficial to many. The pharmaceutical company is able to determine the efficacy of their drug; the medical community receives valuable information that may improve treatment; and UNM investigators have the opportunity to work with novel cutting edge treatments and devices, and to become local experts in using them.
Of course, the greatest benefit is to patients and future patients who may benefit from the improved treatments. “Participants have frequent interaction and are followed more closely during a clinical study,” says Colleran. Also, because the pharmaceutical companies provide the medication, financial barriers for those who cannot afford expensive medications, are reduced.
For some patients, such as those with cancer, Hepatitis C Virus or HIV/AIDS, participation in a clinical trial has life-saving potential.
Despite the benefits and success of clinical trials, most studies face significant challenges in recruiting enough participants. “There are misconceptions about clinical trials at all levels,” says Colleran.
Providers, with patients who might benefit from participation in clinical trials, may feel the pharmaceutical company sponsoring the study is bias and will not conduct a fair trial. Potential subjects may fear the “guinea pig” phenomenon, and perceive they are being experimented on, explains Colleran. Numerous federal, state, industry, and local regulatory agencies and committees, however, oversee the conduct of clinical trials to ensure they are not biased, are safe, and are conducted in an ethical manner. “We need to help people understand that clinical trials are safe and effective,” she says.
While it's true that clinical trials offer no guarantees, when standard treatments fail, or none exist, clinical research trials often offer hope. Today, as new technology promises even greater, more rapid medical advancements, the clinical trial remains the first and best way to determine the value of innovative cures and treatments.
For more information on UNM Clinical Trials, contact the Clinical Trials Center at 272-2836.
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