Clinical Research and Trials

Clinical research is important to determine the safety and efficacy of medications, devices, diagnostics and treatment regimens. Clinical trials testing new drugs are managed in a 4-step process, starting with phase I to study safety and dosage to phase IV, which is a post-approval study. Henry Ford physician-scientists and their research staff place a strong emphasis on clinical research. Clinical trials can offer new or developing treatments to patients before they are widely available to the public. They also provide the opportunity to advance medical knowledge, prevent diseases and increase quality of life.

Henry Ford Cancer Clinical Trials Office consists of 32 research nurses, research assistants and study coordinators who provide a multi-disciplinary approach to cancer care across all the specialty services throughout the System. This is accomplished by providing a centralized clinical research support system through the Clinical Trials Office to all primary departments through which cancer patients are evaluated and treated for their malignancies. These include the Division of Hematology/Oncology and the Departments of Radiation Oncology, General Surgery, Neuro-Oncology, Urology, Gynecologic Oncology and Otolaryngology. Up to 100 Phase I-IV trials, as well as therapeutic intervention, prevention, observational and compassionate-use oncology clinical trials, are available to Henry Ford Health System cancer patients at any given time. As an active member of an established network of cancer research, the System is privileged to offer patients new anti-cancer drugs and therapies that are available at a very small number of sites nationwide or worldwide.

In addition to the centralized Clinical Trials Office dedicated to oncology trials, most departments have infrastructure for conducting clinical research. Please see individual departmental sites for more information about clinical trials or search for clinical trials available through Henry Ford for patients and families. In addition, for studies available nation-wide, the site clinicaltrials.gov is very useful.