Mindsets, Informed Consent, and Research

Cancer patients presented with the option to participate in early-phase cancer trials confront a very difficult choice. Standard therapeutic interventions have proven unsuccessful, but the prospect for significant therapeutic benefit from participating in these trials is very low. Yet there is some question whether the patients appreciate just how difficult the choice is. When patients who decide to participate in such trials are asked later to explain the decision, they often reveal unrealistically high expectations for therapeutic benefit from participation. This phenomenon, which is now widely documented in research ethics, has given rise to a complex and ongoing debate over the quality and validity of informed consent to these trials.