I have seen a trial on CancerHelp UK that I want to take part in. What do I need to do?

• Is a trial suitable for you?
• Getting signed up for a trial
• Finding out where a trial is taking place
• Agreeing to take part in a trial

To see if a trial is suitable, you need to look at the eligibility criteria. In our trial summaries, this information is headed Who can join this trial.

To be able to make sense of trial results, it is important for researchers to be very specific about the group of people (the population) they are studying. So, for example, they are likely to ask for a single cancer type and often at a particular stage. There will usually be many other criteria that have been carefully worked out at the trial planning stage.

However much you want to, you can't join a trial if you don’t meet the criteria that have been set. When a trial is in the papers we sometimes get enquiries asking if people can join with a different type of cancer. Trials don't allow this. And in most cases, it wouldn’t be a good idea because different cancer types respond to different types of treatment. So that is one reason why the entry criteria for cancer trials are so specific.

If you see a trial on our database that you are interested in, you need to discuss it with your own doctor or cancer specialist. We suggest you print off a copy of the information and take it along with you.

If the trial looks suitable for you, your doctor needs to contact a doctor involved with the trial to ask if you can take part. This is called a medical referral. Generally, having a medical referral is the only way you can join a trial. You should talk to your own doctor first, rather than trying to contact the people running the trial. They will not be able to sign you up to the trial without your doctor’s input.

Each trial listed on CancerHelp UK includes contact details for the Cancer Research UK Information Nurses. You can contact them if you have any general questions about taking part in a trial. And you can talk through your circumstances to find out if the trial is likely to be suitable. But only your own doctor can check for sure whether a trial is suitable for you because they have all your medical details. The information nurses are not directly involved with the trials and can’t recruit you.

You can phone the nurses on 0808 800 4040 (freephone) 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday. Or you can use the send us a question form on CancerHelp UK.

There may be a reason that your doctor thinks a particular trial would not be right for you. If you are keen to be involved in a clinical trial, they might know of another one that would be suitable.

Some trials are designed to invite specific groups of people to join, for example, people registered with a GP in a particular area, or people having treatment at a specific cancer centre. You cannot volunteer for these trials. If this is the case, it is clearly explained in the trial details on CancerHelp UK.

The Cancer Research UK Information Nurses can tell you where a trial is running, so that your doctor can refer you to the nearest centre. Some trials take place in many hospitals throughout the country, so there may well be one nearby. But other trials may only run in one place, or in just a few hospitals. They may not be in the same part of the country as you. This is something that you would also need to discuss with your doctor. You may still be able to take part, but it could involve a lot of extra travelling, or even staying near the trial centre for a time. So it is important to think about this carefully.

The process for joining a trial involves an experienced trials nurse or doctor explaining all about what taking part in the trial involves. Our database isn't intended to replace this process in any way.

By law, researchers must explain to you what the trial involves before you agree to take part. You must then sign a consent form to say you have been told, and understand, what taking part in the trial means. This is called informed consent. To give informed consent, you must have been provided with a lot information including

• What the trial is trying to find out
• What treatment you will be asked to have
• What the likely risks and side effects will be
• What the benefits may be
• What tests or check ups you will be expected to have
• How often you will go to follow up appointments and for how long
• Whether any of your blood or tissue samples will be kept or used for further research

This information should all be included in a patient information sheet (PIS), or patient information leaflet (PIL). The research team will give you a copy of one of these. The information on CancerHelp UK is not intended to replace a PIS.