In the case of taxol , Phase III studies of women with ovarian cancer after surgery compared taxol + cisplatin to the standard treatment of cisplatin + cyclophosphamide . Even before these studies were fully analyzed, the Health Protection Branch (HPB) of Health and Welfare Canada approved taxol for treating women with ovarian cancer who had not responded to cisplatin. The approval was based on taxol's consistent effects and the unusual circumstance that many well-studied drugs had failed to show such activity.
Other Trials Drug combinations—particularly with a new compound such as taxol—are the subject of many investigational studies, often called pilot studies, that are based on experimental or early clinical observations. Patients enrolled in these trials often benefit from the drug programs. The risk of unexpected toxicities is minimized by the studies being performed in facilities with both experienced physician-investigators and the tools for accurate data collection.
In Canada, many new drugs are tested in Phase I, II and III trials by the Clinical Trials Group of the National Cancer Institute of Canada .
