Clinical Trials

Low clinical trial enrollment rates are a major issue facing the neuro-oncology field and brain tumor community. Recent research shows that one of the main reasons so few patients participate in a clinical trial is simply because they were unaware of, and uninformed about, the different choices available to them.

Additionally, the ease of finding and navigating existing clinical trial finders on the internet has been described as difficult and not user-friendly for patients and caregivers to navigate. The NBTS Clinical Trial Finder was designed specifically to connect patients with a brain tumor with open trials that might be suitable and advantageous treatment options to consider.

Clinical trial enrollment is a significant barrier to faster, more efficient, and successful new drug development across all of oncology. It is estimated that less than five percent of adult cancer patients will ever participate in a clinical trial. This has consequences for clinical research and drug development efforts, including many planned studies either having to delay their start date or shut down altogether due to under-enrollment. Ultimately, this means the latest, cutting-edge science and promising therapies are delayed in reaching patients. It can also hinder evidenced-based clinical practice and portend significant waste in field-wide R&D efforts.

“Clinical trials are not only a crucial step in the process of bringing a new medicine to market, but are also among the best vehicles for patients with difficult-to-treat diseases to receive earliest access to groundbreaking potential new therapies,” said David F. Arons, JD, Chief Executive Officer, National Brain Tumor Society. “We encourage patients to talk to their medical team and consider all treatment options that may be available for them, including both standard of care and potential clinical trials that may be appropriate for their specific medical condition and for which they may be eligible.”