Table of Contents Hodgkin's Disease Risk Factors Symptoms of Hodgkins Disease Diagnosis and Staging of Hodgkin's Disease Treatment of Hodgkin's Disease Hodgkins Disease Treatment - Getting a Second Opinion Preparing for Treatment of Hodgkin's Disease Methods of Treating Hodgkin's Disease Hodgkin's Disease Clinical Trials Side Effects of Hodgkin's Disease Treatment Radiation Therapy for Hodgkin's Disease Hodgkin's Disease Treatment - Chemotherapy Nutrition During Hodgkin's Disease Treatment Recovery and Outlook Hodgkin's Disease Followup Care Support for People with Hodgkin's Disease Keeping on top of Your Condition

Hodgkin's Disease Clinical Trials

Many people with Hodgkin's disease take part in clinical trials. Doctors conduct clinical trials to learn about the effectiveness and side effects of new treatments. Trials are exploring new ways of giving radiation therapy and chemotherapy, new drugs and new drug combinations, and biological therapies. High-dose chemotherapy with bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell transplantation is also being evaluated. In some trials, all patients receive the new treatment. In others, doctors compare different therapies by giving the new treatment to one group of patients and the standard treatment to another group; or they may compare one standard treatment with another. Research like this has led to significant advances in the treatment of Hodgkin's disease. Each achievement brings researchers closer to the eventual control of cancer.

People who take part in clinical trials have the first chance to benefit from treatments that have shown promise in earlier research. They also make an important contribution to medical science.

Patients who are interested in entering a clinical trial should talk with their doctor.