Research - clinical trials for womb cancer

Clinical trials may be carried out to:

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

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

Taking part in a trial

You may be invited to take part in a treatment research trial. There can be many benefits in doing this. Trials help to improve knowledge about cancer and develop new treatments. You will be carefully monitored during and after the study. Usually, several hospitals around the country take part in these trials. It is important to bear in mind that some treatments that look promising at first are often later found not to be as good as existing treatments, or to have side effects that outweigh the benefits.

Blood and tumour samples

Many blood samples and tumour biopsies may be taken to make the right diagnosis. You may be asked for your permission to use some of your samples for research into cancer. If you are taking part in a trial you may also be asked to give other samples which may be frozen and stored for future use, when new research techniques become available. These samples will have your name removed from them (be anonymised) so you can’t be identified.

The research may be carried out at the hospital where you are treated, or it may be at another hospital. This type of research takes a long time, so you are unlikely to hear the results. The samples will, however, be used to increase knowledge about the causes of cancer and its treatment. It's hoped that this research will improve the outlook for future patients.

Current research

If you’ve had a total hysterectomy| for womb cancer and are due to have radiotherapy| you may be asked to take part in a trial called PORTEC3. This trial is looking to see if giving chemotherapy| as well as radiotherapy after surgery can help to reduce the risk of the cancer coming back. After surgery, half of the women in the trial will be given radiotherapy and the other half will have a combination of both chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Your doctor or specialist nurse will explain more about the trial if it is appropriate for you.