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Cancer prevention trials are designed for people at risk of developing cancer. The trials evaluate the safety and effectiveness of various risk reduction strategies. The two types of prevention trials answer the following questions:

• Action trials: Can a person's actions - such as exercising more or quitting smoking prevent cancer?
• Agent trials: Can taking certain medicines, vitamins, minerals, or food supplements lower the risk of certain types of cancer?

  (Agent trials are also known as chemoprevention trials.)

Chemoprevention trials compare a promising new prevention agent or technique with a standard agent or technique, or placebo. The investigational group takes the agent being studied; the control group takes either the standard agent that is being compared to the study agent or - because there may be no standard agent - a look-alike agent that contains no active ingredient, called a placebo.

Who Participates

Prevention trials seek participants from various age groups and socioeconomic backgrounds or people who have combinations of cancer risk factors. Participants in prevention trials are otherwise healthy individuals who are at risk for cancer.

Possible Benefits

If the intervention being studied is found to be effective, participants may be among the first to benefit.

Possible Risks

• New cancer prevention interventions may have unknown side effects or risks.
• The drug intervention may have worse side effects or be less effective than standard preventive measures.
• Even if a new drug or intervention is effective, it may not work for every participant.

Contact Information

Nebraska Comprehensive Cancer Control Program
Nebraska Health and Human Services
301 Centennial Mall South PO Box 95026
Lincoln, NE 68509

Phone: (402) 471-4411
Fax: (402) 471-6446
Email: NebraskaCARES@dhhs.ne.gov