Clinical Trials and the "Approved" Uses of Drugs When using anticancer chemicals, it is important for both you and your doctor to be aware of how the pharmaceutical industry works. Once drug companies have fulfilled the lengthy and complex testing—and the drawn-out legal procedures—required to market a new drug they tend not to devote a lot of effort to discovering new uses for that drug. They more or less delegate this responsibility to the cancer physicians conducting clinical trials .
But every drug comes with an official "package insert" detailing what dose to use for what illness. This information is also listed in the Physician's Desk Reference. These summaries usually contain only the information "passed" by the government's approval agencies. Why this is important is that many drug programs in standard use are not listed as "approved." They are used because experience with patients has shown they are effective. About half of all the current uses of anticancer drugs in the United States and Canada are for indications and schedules not given in the official inserts.
Since the inserts do not necessarily reflect the most up-to-date cancer research, the current standard use of these drugs, nor even their optimum use, your doctor should not be restricted to printed drug-listing materials. In fact, appropriate use of anticancer drugs may be for indications not listed in such official sources.
This is another reason why an oncologist can be a useful member of your health care team. Cancer physicians are up to date on the most recent research findings and important advances in treatment even though that information may not appear in the drug-related literature.
