What is a Clinical Research Trial?
The treatment of cancer in animals utilizes many of the same methods available in human medicine. Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hypothermia, immunotherapy and photodynamic therapy are all part of the arsenal assembled to fight cancer in the pet animal. Most clinical research trials investigating new methods of cancer diagnosis or treatment are conducted at colleges of veterinary medicine. Although considered "experimental", effectiveness of the treatment has been proven in laboratory animals, safety has been demonstrated in normal dogs or cats, and the therapy is considered to be of potential benefit to the patient. Patients entering a clinical trial must be carefully monitored. Adherence to the treatment protocol is of vital importance to the veterinarian, the pet owner, and to future pets with cancer to ensure that the best in therapy and patient care is available. When a patient treated in a clinical trial dies, a necropsy (autopsy) must be conducted to know the entire effect of the treatment; positive and negative. Many naturally occurring cancers in pet animals closely resemble human cancer and provide meaningful systems for cancer research to benefit both man and animals. The veterinary facility providing the clinical trial, with owner's permission, may provide specimens obtained from the patient (blood, urine, and/or tumor samples) to basic researchers to gain additional information that may benefit present and future cancer patients. It is important to remember, research is not conducted on the pet itself.
From the American Veterinary Medical Association