Experimental cancer treatment

Experimental cancer treatments are mainstream medical therapies intended to treat cancer by improving on, supplementing or replacing conventional methods (surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy). However, researchers are still trying to determine whether these treatments are safe and effective treatments. Experimental cancer treatments are normally available only to people who participate in formal research programs, which are called clinical trials. Occasionally, a seriously ill person may be able to access an experimental drug through an expanded access program. Some of the treatments have regulatory approval for treating other conditions. Health insurance and publicly funded health care programs normally refuse to pay for experimental cancer treatments. The entries listed below vary between theoretical therapies to unproven controversial therapies. Many of these treatments are alleged to help against only specific forms of cancer. It is not a list of treatments widely available at hospitals. Drug discovery The twin goals of research are to determine whether the treatment actually works (called efficacy) and whether it is sufficiently safe. Regulatory processes attempt to balance the potential benefits with the potential harms, so that people given the treatment are more likely to benefit from it than to be harmed by it. Medical research for cancer begins much like research for any disease. In organized studies of new treatments for cancer, the pre-clinical development of drugs, devices, and techniques begins in laboratories, either with isolated cells or in small animals, most commonly rats or mice. In other cases, the proposed treatment for cancer is already in use for some other medical condition, in which case more is known about its safety and potential efficacy. Clinical trials are the study of treatments in humans. The first-in-human tests of a potential treatment are called Phase I studies.