Sydney Local Health District is committed to a culture where research is embedded within clinical care.

Since 1979 the District has conducted over 7260 clinical trials across more than 100 departments. Currently there are more 748 active clinical trials underway across 96 departments including Haematology, Gastroenterology, Neurology, Respiratory Medicine, Medical Oncology, Mental Health and Drug Health Services.

What is a clinical trial?

A clinical trial is a research study designed to test the safety and effectiveness of a treatment. Most often this is a drug treatment, but any form of treatment can be studied in this way including surgical treatment, alternative therapies and new techniques such as gene therapy. Clinical trials of drugs usually involve the testing of a newly developed drug, but they can also study new uses for an existing drug, new doses, new treatment combinations or to compare existing standard treatments.

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Each clinical trial has guidelines drawn up that specify which patients are suitable (inclusion criteria) or unsuitable (exclusion criteria) for the particular study. These criteria are based on factors such as age, type of disease, medical history and current medical condition. The purpose is to make sure that the study is suitable for the patients who are enrolled in it and that the risks are minimised.
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How does a clinical trial work?

Who conducts clinical trials?

Conducting a clinical trial is a team effort. The team is usually led by a senior clinical researcher (the principal investigator) and may include specialist doctors, general practitioners, nurses, counsellors, pharmacists, laboratory scientists, and many other behind-the-scenes support staff. As a large number of patients are needed for Phase III clinical trials, these studies are often carried out in many research centres around the world and are known as international multi-centre trials. Principal investigators from the major centres often form a steering group to make sure there is proper communication and coordination between participating centres.

Trialling a new drug

Before human trials begin, a new drug usually undergoes extensive testing in animals. These pre-clinical studies are designed to examine the tissue effects of the drug, the way it is processed in the body, and its potential to produce toxicity or birth defects. It must generally also be certified as having been produced according to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) principles and checked for purity and stability.

How are clinical trials of new drugs conducted?

Clinical trials typically move through four phases of investigation. In the early phases, a new intervention is tested in a small number of participants. If the treatment is promising then the clinical trial will progress further to be tested on larger number of participants to collect more information on effectiveness.

How is treatment effectiveness determined?

There are many difficulties in trying to work out whether a new treatment is truly effective. Study results can be influenced by unconscious treatment choices, the expectations of researchers and patients, and a range of other factors unrelated to the treatment. Phase III clinical trials use a number of methods to ensure that the results are reliable.

Treatment comparison groups usually involve a test group (given the new treatment) and a control group (given the standard treatment). If there is no standard treatment of proven value, or if it has worrying side effects, a placebo (a look-alike or 'dummy' pill) that contains no active drug - may be used in the control group. Allocation to one or other treatment group is generally determined by a computerised lottery method known as randomisation. Ideally, neither researchers nor participants should know which treatment a particular person is having. Studies of this kind are referred to as double blind trials. Safety comes first though. If a participant develops an unexpected or serious problem while on a trial, the treatment code can be broken and appropriate action taken.

Who provides funding for clinical trials?

All clinical trials must have a sponsor. This can be an individual, a company, an institution, or an organisation that takes responsibility for the initiation, management, and/or financing of a trial. About 50 per cent of clinical trials conducted in Sydney Local Health District are commercially sponsored and funded, in most cases by a pharmaceutical company. The remainder are initiated by a researcher or group of researchers and are sponsored by the Local Health District.

Funding can come from grant-giving bodies such as the National Health and Medical Research Council or one of the many non-government fund-raising organisations, or researchers and the hospital may absorb the costs of running a trial. It is not considered ethical for clinical trial costs to be charged to patients, health insurance companies, or Medicare. However sometimes patients may be billed for those aspects of their treatment that would otherwise be part of their routine care, such as medical consultations, blood tests, x-rays or scans. Clinical trial participants may be reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses associated with the trial and, in some studies, you may receive a small amount for the time and inconvenience involved.