Some parents misunderstand kids’ cancer studies

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Children with incurable cancer can take part in early trials of a new drug’s safety, but many parents may misunderstand the goals of those studies, new research finds. When researchers test new drugs on humans, they start with phase 1 clinical trials. Those studies aren’t aimed at seeing whether a drug works; instead, researchers are looking at the drug’s safety, and trying to figure out the highest dose that people can tolerate without troublesome side effects. Then the drug can move on to larger trials testing its effectiveness. …