Research - clinical trials for bladder cancer

Clinical trials may be carried out to:

• test new treatments, such as new chemotherapy drugs, gene therapy or cancer vaccines
• look at new combinations of existing treatments, or change the way they are given, to make them more effective or reduce side effects
• compare the effectiveness of drugs used to control symptoms
• find out how cancer treatments work
• see which treatments are the most cost-effective.

Trials are the only reliable way to find out if a different type of surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy or other treatment is better than what is already available.

Taking part in a trial

You may be asked to take part in a treatment research trial and there can be many benefits in doing this. Trials help to improve knowledge about cancer and develop new treatments.

You’ll be carefully monitored during and after the study. Usually, several hospitals around the country take part in a trial. It’s important to bear in mind that some treatments which look promising at first are often later found to be less effective than existing treatments, or to have side effects that outweigh the benefits. 

Blood and tumour samples

Blood and tumour samples may be taken to help make the right diagnosis. You may be asked for your permission to use some of your samples for research into cancer. If you take part in a trial you may also give other samples, which may be frozen and stored for future use when new research techniques become available. Your name will be removed from the samples so you can’t be identified.

The research may be carried out at the hospital where you are treated, or at another one. This type of research takes a long time, and results may not be available for many years. The samples will be used to increase knowledge about the causes of cancer and its treatment, which will hopefully improve the outlook for future patients.