Mesothelioma Clinical Trials (NIH)
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research. Helping to lead the way toward important medical discoveries that improve people's health and save lives, NIH scientists investigate ways to prevent disease as well as the causes, treatments, and even cures for common and rare diseases. Composed of 27 Institutes and Centers, the NIH provides leadership and financial support to researchers in every state and throughout the world.
For over a century, the National Institutes of Health has played an important role in improving the health of the nation. The NIH traces its roots to 1887 with the creation of the Laboratory of Hygiene at the Marine Hospital in Staten Island, NY.
The NIH is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. With the headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, the NIH has more than 18,000 employees on the main campus and at satellite sites across the country.
With the support of the American people, the NIH annually invests over $28 billion in medical research. More than 83% of the NIH's funding is awarded through almost 50,000 competitive grants to more than 325,000 researchers at over 3,000 universities, medical schools, and other research institutions in every state and around the world. About 10% of the NIH's budget supports projects conducted by nearly 6,000 scientists in its own laboratories, most of which are on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland.
The clinical trials conducted by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) on the NIH campus represent the core of the clinical program of the NCI's Center for Cancer Research (CCR). At the CCR, basic and clinical science are seamlessly integrated with a mission to reduce the burden of cancer through exploration, discovery, and the translation of novel approaches into compassionate and effective care for all cancer patients. Our clinical studies are aimed at answering critical questions about a particular disease or disease process and at identifying promising new therapeutic interventions that can then be confirmed in larger studies carried out across the country at cancer centers participating in NCI-supported research.
The Center for Cancer Research (CCR), NCI's largest division doing research on campus, conducts lung cancer clinical trials at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md. NCI accepts referrals to lung cancer clinical trials conducted in Bethesda, Md., through its Clinical Trials Referral Office (formerly the Clinical Studies Support Center) at 1-888-N CI-1937 (1-888-624-1937).
Cancer clinical trials are conducted in hopes of finding better ways to prevent and treat cancer. Clinical trials answer important scientific questions, which can lead to future advances in care. Most of today's standard treatments are based on previous clinical trial results. Because of the progress made in clinical trials, many people with cancer are living longer. In addition to improved survival rates, clinical trials have contributed to:
- Lower recurrence rates for many cancers
- New treatment approaches for cancers that had no effective therapy
- Fewer side effects from treatment
- Better quality of life for people with cancer
