Clinical trials represent leading-edge medical science. However, less than 5% of adults diagnosed with cancer each year are enrolled in them. While there are a number of various treatment approaches being offered, 8/10 patients are not aware that this is a viable option for them. If they are offering treatment options above and beyond the standard treatment, why are patients not utilizing this valuable resource? Results from surveys and focus groups concluded that the vast majority of patients are unaware of clinical trials and doctors are not enrolling patients due to a lack of time, staffing, funding, and resources. Indeed, enrolling a patient in a trial requires a significant amount of time and resources for physicians. Furthermore, there are some serious misconceptions held by some physicians and patients.

Since targeted trials are based on well-established molecular mechanisms, they do not require large-scale studies to produce relevant statistical data. This is an important distinction as the techniques used to identify the more general chemotherapy drugs currently being used, were based on applying the same drug to many patients with a particular form of cancer, and did not consider the genetic variation amongst the patients, their cancers, or diet. In the case of these generalized and less stratified trials, large numbers of patients were needed to produce relevant statistical data.

A common myth is that a patient may receive a placebo instead of the treatment being tested. However, clinical trials for cancer do not typically use this approach. There are two considerations regarding this point. Firstly, if a placebo or control group is used in a trial, it is almost always the standard treatment for that cancer that the patient would have otherwise used. Secondly, most targeted clinical trials are open label and the patient has the choice of what role they perform. Furthermore, if the tested drug starts to show significant benefits, the control group is given the option to switch to the drug as it would be highly unethical to deny a patient with a specific genetic marker, effective treatment.

Policosanol is a kind of wax found in sugarcane and beehives. It is a good source of plant nutrition. Our body cannot synthesize this and an external source is the only way. This substance is very good to control cholesterol. Many policosanol clinical trials have been done mainly in Cuba. Approximately ten countries and most of them in Latin America have approved the formulation. In addition to above, studies have been conducted in other countries also. Pantox Laboratories in California, National Centre for Scientific Research, McGill University in Canada, University of Bonn, Germany have conducted policosanol clinic trials. All of these trials conclude the health benefits of policosanol in containing cardiovascular problems.

If you think that the cholesterol is bad for you, it is not correct. In fact there are good cholesterol and bad cholesterol. High density lipoprotein or HDL is good cholesterol and low density lipoprotein or LDL is bad cholesterol. So long as the balance is maintained between the two, there is no problem for our health. However, when the balance is tilted cardiovascular diseases are imminent. HDL throws away the fat from the arterial areas into the liver. In the liver it is further processed and balance unwanted substances are ejected out of our body. The balance between HDL and LDL will be disturbed if this process does not happen.

Policosanol clinical trials have proved that the HDL faces few problems in discharging its duties. When arteries are destructed due to oxidation LDL lesions are formed. Also lesion formation can happen even without oxidation in the arteries. HDL has the capacity to inhibit the oxidation process and also prevent lesion formation. If this does not happen the passage of the arteries is shrunk and affect the blood flow leading to many cardiovascular diseases. Ideally one can take 5 mg of policosanol twice a day. Though this is derived from sugar cane, it does not increase the sugar content in our blood and is considered safe nutrition.