Clinical Trials

What are Clinical Trials?

Medical concept of a paper with text related to Oncology and pills.

Clinical trials are research studies that test new drugs, treatments or medical procedures to determine their effectiveness and safety. Clinical cancer trials are conducted only after their design meets the approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

These research studies help inform doctors and scientists about new and emerging cancer therapies, how those therapies should be used, and which patients will benefit the most from these approaches. Almost every standard cancer treatment currently in use was first made available to patients who participated in clinical trials.

Through these studies, Georgetown Lombardi and other medical centers aim to understand how to better provide personalized medical treatment to each patient.

Watch Georgetown Lombardi Director Louis M. Weiner, MD, explain the importance of clinical trials.

Clinical Trials at Georgetown Lombardi

Search for Available Clinical Trials

This is a screenshot of the OnCore portal that shows how a user can search by different criteria

Click here to access the OnCore Cancer Study Portal to search for clinical trials

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Information about active clinical trials offered by Georgetown Lombardi physician-researchers at hospitals throughout the MedStar Georgetown Cancer Institute can be accessed via the OnCore Cancer Study Portal.

This online portal provides an advanced search page to allow you to find clinical trials by disease site, keywords and other variables. Results will display with a link to the NIH ClinicalTrials.gov that leads to more specific trial information, such as inclusion criteria and contact information.

Additional Ways to Find Clinical Trials

  • ClinicalTrials.gov — U.S. National Institutes of Health’s database of national and international clinical trials
  • Researchmatch.org — A resource that brings together people who are trying to find research studies and clinical trials, and researchers who are looking for volunteers.

More Information about Clinical Trials