• See current Kaposi's sarcoma trials

Cancer research trials are carried out to try to find new and better treatments for cancer. Trials that are carried out on patients are known as clinical trials.

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 to reduce side effects
• compare the effectiveness of drugs used for symptom control
• 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 operation, type of 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. There can be many benefits in doing this. Trials help to improve knowledge about cancer and the development of new treatments. You will also be carefully monitored during and after the study. Usually, several hospitals around the country take part in these trials.

Some Kaposi's sarcoma research studies are giving chemotherapy before and during radiotherapy as well as afterwards. Chemotherapy given at the same time as radiotherapy is called concommitant chemotherapy. Research trials are trying to find out how best to use this combination of treatments.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is being researched as a treatment for Aids-related Kaposi's sarcoma. PDT involves an injection of a light-sensitive drug, which concentrates in the KS lesion. A laser is then shone directly onto the lesion. The drug is activated by the laser, and destroys the cancer cells.

Blood and tumour samples

Many blood samples and bone marrow or tumour biopsies may be taken to find out what is wrong with you. Most of these are needed to make the right diagnosis. You may be asked for your permission to use some of your samples for research into cancer. Some samples may be frozen and stored for future use, when new research techniques become available.

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. This research will, hopefully, improve the outlook for future patients.