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| Preface | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Cancer and Cancer Treatment Basics | |
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| What Is Cancer and How Is It Treated? | |
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| What Is Cancer? | |
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| The Six Hallmarks of Cancer | |
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| The Three Mainstays of Cancer Treatment | |
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| Surgery | |
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| Radiation Therapy | |
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| Medical Therapy (Medications) | |
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| Evolution of Medicine: From Systematic Knowledge to Evidence-Based Medicine and Toward Personalized Medicine | |
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| The Bottom Line | |
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| What Are Clinical Trials and How Are They Organized? | |
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| What Is a Clinical Trial? | |
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| A Brief History of Clinical Trials | |
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| Dr. Lind's Plan | |
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| Modern Medicine | |
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| The Key Ingredients of a Clinical Trial | |
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| Clinical Trials Versus Standard Care | |
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| The Eligibility Checklist Process | |
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| Informed Consent | |
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| Information About You | |
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| Statistics in Clinical Trials | |
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| What Is Risk Reduction? | |
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| What Is a Survival Benefit? | |
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| What Does "Significant" Mean? | |
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| The Bottom Line | |
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| The Types of Clinical Trials: Four Phases and More | |
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| Phase I: Safety Testing | |
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| Blood Level Studies | |
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| Variations of Phase I Testing | |
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| The Biologically Effective Dose | |
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| Why Would You Want to Participate in a Phase I Study? | |
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| Phase II: Initial Efficacy Testing: Does the New Drug Work? | |
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| Types of Phase II Studies | |
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| What's in a Phase II Study for You? | |
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| Phase III Trials: The New Treatment Compared to Standard Care | |
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| Why Would You Volunteer for a Phase III Clinical Trial? | |
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| Phase IV Studies | |
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| What's in a Phase TV Study for You? | |
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| Phase 0 (Zero) Studies | |
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| A Word About Other Types of Studies | |
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| Why Would You Consider Participating in a Clinical Trial That Doesn't Involve a Treatment Intended to Directly Treat Cancer? | |
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| The Bottom Line: The Advantages and Disadvantages of Various Types of Clinical Trials | |
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| Randomized Trials and Placebos | |
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| Randomization: Letting the Computer Decide | |
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| Randomization in Today's Clinical Trials | |
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| Comparing Active Treatment to No Treatment | |
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| Blinding and Placebos | |
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| Benefits Can Be Hard to See Without Blinding | |
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| The Appropriate Role of Placebos in Clinical Trials | |
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| The Placebo Effect | |
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| Placebos in History | |
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| Why Are Randomized Trials So Large? | |
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| What Happens If a Study Shows a Benefit Even Before It Is Finished? | |
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| Did I Get the Best Treatment? | |
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| How Can I Be Sure I Get the New Treatment? | |
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| The Bottom Line | |
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| Clinical Trials That Have Changed Cancer Care | |
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| Surgery Cures More Women with Breast Cancer When Supported by Chemotherapy | |
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| When Less May Be More | |
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| Does Surgery Really Help Men with Prostate Cancer? | |
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| A Sum That Is Truly Better Than Its Parts: Combining Chemotherapy Drugs | |
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| Location, Location, Location | |
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| A Successful Revolution: Targeting Mutations That Cause Cancer | |
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| Hormones and Cancer Prevention | |
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| Boost Your Immune System | |
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| Debunking a Medical Bias | |
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| When Our Basic Beliefs Are Challenged | |
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| The Next Breakthrough Study-What Will it Be? | |
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| The Bottom Line | |
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| Deciding Whether to Participate in a Clinical Trial | |
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| Is There a Clinical Trial That's Right for Me? | |
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| Deciding Whether to Participate in a Clinical Trial | |
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| What Should You Know Before Choosing a Clinical Trial? | |
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| What Potential Benefits and Risks Should You Consider Before Choosing a Clinical Trial? | |
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| The Effects of Attitudes, Emotions, and Reality in Choosing a Clinical Trial | |
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| "I Just Want to Be Left Alone!" | |
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| Cancer Support Groups | |
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| Choosing the Right Trial for Your Needs | |
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| I'm Interested. What Do I Do Next? | |
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| Start Close to Home | |
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| Know Your Disease State, Stage, and Prior and Current Treatments | |
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| Searching Online-The Basics | |
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| Advanced Searches | |
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| I've Done My Homework…Now What? | |
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| The Bottom Line | |
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| Who Is Looking Out for You and What Can You Expect? | |
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| How Are Studies Overseen and Regulated? | |
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| The Power of the FDA | |
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| Not One, but Two Animal Tests! | |
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| Truly Independent, Ail-Powerful Oversight: The Data Safely Monitoring Board | |
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| What Can I Expect From My Doctor and Investigative Team? | |
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| What If I Have Concerns and I'm Not Sure Where to Go for an Answer? | |
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| Am I Free to Quit If I Want To? | |
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| What If I Have Side Effects? How Will I Know If I Should Be Concerned? | |
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| What If Something Goes Wrong? | |
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| How Do You Get Through the Red Tape? | |
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| Why Are There Delays? | |
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| A Concern You May Have: "If I Start a Clinical Trial, and the Trial Medications Don't Work, I Could Be Wasting Valuable Time." | |
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| The Bottom Line | |
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| Who Pays for Clinical Trials-And What Can They Cost? | |
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| What Costs Are Involved in Clinical Trials? | |
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| Who Pays for These Costs? | |
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| Costs of Your Care and Insurance Coverage of Cancer Clinical Trials | |
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| Medicare Comes Through | |
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| Traditional Health Insurance | |
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| The Bottom Line | |
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| Medical Treatment of Cancer Now, and in the Future | |
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| Cancer Drugs Currently in Use and Being Tested in Trials | |
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| Chemotherapy Drugs | |
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| Antimetabolites | |
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| Alkylating Agents | |
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| DNA Cross-Linking Platinum Derivatives | |
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| Antitumor Antibiotics | |
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| Topoisomerase Inhibitors | |
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| Microtubule Assembly and Disassembly Inhibitors (Mitotic Inhibitors) | |
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| Hormonal Agents | |
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| Testosterone- and Estrogen-Lowering Drugs | |
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| Hormone-Blocking Drugs | |
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| Testosterone Conversion/Activation Blockers | |
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| Small-Molecule Targeted Drugs | |
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| Monoclonal Antibodies | |
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| Immunotherapy | |
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| Differentiation Therapy | |
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| Gene Therapy | |
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| A Last Word About Drugs | |
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| The Bottom Line | |
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| The Future of Cancer Treatment and Clinical Trials: Personalized Medicine | |
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| Targeted Therapy | |
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| Personalized Therapy | |
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| Pharmacogenomics | |
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| The Bottom Line | |
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| A Final Word | |
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| Tell Us What You Think | |
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| Glossary | |
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| Resources | |
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| General Clinical Trials Information | |
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| Information Specific by Tumor Type | |
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| Index | |