What Are Nontherapeutic Clinical Trials for Cancer and Their Benefits?

When you think of clinical trials for cancer, testing a new medication may come to mind. But drugs aren’t the only thing these trials investigate. There’s a growing world of nonpharmaceutical clinical trials for cancer — also known as observational studies or nontherapeutic clinical trials — that explore new ways to prevent cancer, diagnose cancer, or improve the quality of life for people with cancer.

Participating in a nontherapeutic clinical trial on top of receiving treatment can be part of your cancer care plan. Keep reading to learn how.

Both therapeutic and nontherapeutic clinical trials play an important role in advancing cancer care. But they’re different.

“Therapeutic clinical trials are intended to treat cancer and provide a better outcome for the individual,” says Ernest Hawk, MD, MPH, vice president and head of the division of cancer prevention and population sciences at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. These trials test the safety and efficacy of cancer treatment options, such as:

Devices
Drug therapies
Surgical interventions

“Nontherapeutic trials are intended to provide an improved understanding of both cancer and its implications, which can go on to inform future care,” says Dr. Hawk. These may include:

Behavioral interventions, such as attending support groups or counseling
Complementary therapies, such as acupuncture or meditation
Lifestyle interventions related to diet and exercise

Even though nontherapeutic clinical trials don’t offer direct cancer treatment, they’re still important, says Jessica Scott, PhD, principal investigator at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in New York City, who specializes in research on exercise and cardiovascular outcomes in people with cancer. “Nontherapeutic clinical trials are critical for advancing medical knowledge to better understand diseases, improve diagnostic tools, and generate important information that can be used to develop more effective treatment strategies.”

For example, joining a nontherapeutic cancer clinical trial for cancer may help you:

Educate yourself about your diagnosis. These trials focus on gathering knowledge to improve the understanding of certain components of cancer, says Dr. Scott.
Get greater access to care. “Participants may receive health screenings, lab tests, or physical exams at no cost,” says Scott.
Find new ways to improve your quality of life. Some trials focus on supportive care and ways to help you feel better and live longer, says Hawk.
Advance the future of cancer care. “Participation may lead to new findings that could help others with similar conditions or risks in the future,” says Scott.

As scientists break new ground in cancer research, more and more nontreatment trials have become available. Below are some common types, but there are even more out there that may help you manage treatment side effects and learn more about the condition.

Smoking Cessation

It’s common knowledge that quitting smoking can help improve your health. But if you have cancer, it becomes even more important, because smoking regularly is linked to poor outcomes in cancer care.

What’s encouraging is that people who successfully stop smoking following a cancer diagnosis can see improvements in treatment response.

And trials can provide guidance on how to do so.

Exercise

Research shows physical activity may help lower the risk of cancer progression, recurrence, and mortality. And the more active you are, the better the cancer outcome, generally speaking.

Physical activity is studied in a wide range of cancer-related contexts, from how presurgery endurance exercise affects biomarkers in people with early stage prostate cancer to how participation in a supervised exercise program may improve quality of life for people with metastatic breast cancer.

With exercise, “People feel better, have a better emotional state, and, in many cases, are more able to maintain function,” says Hawk.

Dietary Changes

Dietary interventions have been a long-standing interest in cancer care. Preclinical studies have found that dietary changes may improve how the immune system responds to cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiation. More research is needed about specific diet recommendations, but clinical trials on dietary interventions for cancer continue to emerge.

Acupuncture and Massage

If you’re considering adding complementary therapies to your care plan, acupuncture and massage trials may be worth exploring. A randomized clinical trial of people with advanced cancer found that the participants who underwent weekly acupuncture or massage sessions reported less pain and improved fatigue, insomnia, and quality of life.

Meditation

Mindfulness-based practices, such as meditation, are thought to be a cost-effective way to help ease symptoms of cancer progression and relieve treatment side effects. Plus, meditation may also help relieve the stress, anxiety, and depression that often accompany cancer. It continues to be explored as a complementary treatment.

Cannabis

The medicinal use of cannabis is receiving more attention when it comes to cancer care. Although some studies have found it may help ease nausea, pain, and vomiting and boost appetite in people undergoing chemotherapy, guidelines from the American Society of Clinical Oncology currently support the use of medical cannabis in clinical trial settings only.

Considering joining a nontherapeutic clinical trial for cancer? “The best place to start is to talk with your doctor or another member of your health care team about your interest in learning more about potential trials,” says Scott. Your care team may be able to help you:

Search for a trial with eligibility requirements you meet
Provide information about trials available to you
Answer any questions you may have
Help you make a decision about joining a clinical trial

You can also do research on your own to see what types of trials you may be interested in and their eligibility requirements. You can inquire at your local hospital or treatment center or check resources such as:

Before signing up for a nontherapeutic trial, talk to your doctor and ask questions, such as:

How long does the clinical trial last?
What’s required of me to participate? Is long-term follow-up needed?
When will I find out about the results or the findings from the trial?
How long do I have to make my decision?
Will participating in a nontherapeutic trial interfere with my current cancer treatment?

If you’re hesitant about joining a trial, remember this: “The only way we get answers to any of the questions we have about cancer interventions and improving outcomes is by people being willing to participate in research,” says Hawk.