Genomic Profiling and Clinical Trials

What are clinical trials?

Clinical trials are research studies that you may want to participate in if you are diagnosed with bowel cancer. There are all kinds of different trials, including those looking at screening for bowel cancer, diagnosis, treatment, prevention and identifying risks and causes.

There are advantages and disadvantages of participating in clinical trials and whether or not you choose to do so is down to personal choice. We would be happy to discuss the potential pros and cons with you to help you make up your mind.

Advantages of participating

Here are some of the possible benefits you might experience:

• You may get to have a ground-breaking treatment that is only available as part of a trial.
• This treatment may have better results than other mainstream treatments, although you won’t know that for sure as this is one of the reason the trial is being carried out.
• You might receive more frequent or lengthier check-ups or more scans and tests to assess your progress.
• You will be contributing to the development of better cancer treatment in the future.

Disadvantages of participating

Possible disadvantages are:

• There is a risk of unexpected, and even potentially serious side-effects. Phase 1 and 2 trials have been researched under laboratory conditions and by phase 3 the risk of adverse reactions is lower as doctors understand more about the treatment. Nevertheless, the risk of harm remains.
• For some people the additional check-ups, scans and tests can be inconvenient and may increase anxiety. They can also take time out of your busy schedule.

What is genomic profiling?

Genomic profiling looks at genetic factors (factors that you inherit from your parents and that are present in you from birth) in patients with bowel cancer. It is part of our attempt to understand more about risk factors for the disease and to help improve treatment outcomes. Genomic profiling can be used to understand why some people get bowel cancer while others don’t. It can also tell us more about the way different people react to certain drugs. By taking part in genomic profiling, you can assist scientists to develop new ways to diagnose, treat and prevent bowel cancer.