The short answer
Finding a clinical trial takes four steps: gather the details of your cancer (type, stage, prior treatments), search a trial database like NCI's find-a-trial tool or ClinicalTrials.gov, review each trial's eligibility criteria, and contact the trial team. NCI's helpline at 1-800-4-CANCER can search with you for free, and your oncologist should be part of the decision.
Ask your oncologist first: 'Would a clinical trial be right for me?' Your doctor can also contact a trial team for you.
Before searching, gather your details: exact cancer type, stage, biomarker or genetic test results, prior treatments, age, and general health.
NCI's clinical trials search at cancer.gov covers NCI-supported cancer trials; ClinicalTrials.gov, run by the National Library of Medicine, lists studies across diseases.
NCI's Cancer Information Service (1-800-4-CANCER, 1-800-422-6237) will search for trials with you, free, Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern.
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The whole article, with every detail and caution.
The simple version
This page is for people with cancer, and their families, who want to look for a clinical trial. Clinical trials are how new cancer treatments prove themselves. Finding the right trial can feel like searching a haystack. It gets manageable when you break it into four steps: gather your details, search, check eligibility, and make contact.
One idea worth carrying in: you do not have to wait to ask. If you are curious about trials, raise it with your doctor now, whatever stage you are at. (New to the idea? Start with What Are Clinical Trials?.)
Finding a trial is a four-step process, and free help exists at every step.
Step 1: Gather your cancer details
Trial eligibility turns on specifics. Collect them before you search:
- your exact cancer type and subtype
- your stage, and where the cancer has spread if it has
- biomarker, genetic, or molecular test results from your pathology report.
- treatments you've already had, including dates
- your age and general health, and other conditions you have
Most of this sits in your pathology report and treatment summary. Your care team can help you pull it together. Asking your oncologist "Would a clinical trial be right for me?" is a good first move. NCI also notes your doctor can ask the trial team on your behalf.
Step 2: Search
Free, reliable places to look:
- NCI's clinical trials search (cancer.gov) — covers NCI-supported cancer trials across the country. You can search by keyword, cancer type, age, or ZIP code, and an advanced search adds options such as location, phase, and drug.
- ClinicalTrials.gov — the NIH registry of clinical studies run around the world. It is broader than cancer.
- NCI's Cancer Information Service — 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237) — free, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern. A specialist can search for you or guide you through it. Live chat is also offered at the same hours.
- NCI-designated cancer centers and drug company websites also list trials.
- Cancer advocacy organizations can be another place to look.
Step 3: Check eligibility
Every trial listing includes eligibility criteria: the rules for who can join and who can't. Compare each promising trial against your details from Step 1. Then shortlist the ones that could plausibly fit.
Two things should not put you off. First, the criteria are written in dense medical language, and your care team can translate them. Second, not qualifying for one trial does not mean you cannot join another.
Step 4: Contact the trial team
Each listing includes contact information. NCI suggests contacting the trial coordinator, who may not be the lead researcher. When you call or email:
- give a short summary of your details from Step 1
- ask what taking part involves: visits, tests, time, and travel
- ask about costs: research costs (such as the study drug or research-only tests) may be covered by the trial's sponsor, while routine care costs are often covered by health insurance. Ask your insurer whether it covers routine care in trials and whether it needs pre-authorization. Medicare: 1-800-633-4227.
- ask about travel needs and whether any help exists
Then bring what you learn back to your own oncologist. Deciding to join is a treatment decision like any other. Weigh it with your team. And know that consent keeps going: you can leave a trial at any time, for any reason. For what enrollment itself looks like, see Joining a Clinical Trial.
The takeaway
Gather your details. Search NCI's tool and ClinicalTrials.gov, or let 1-800-4-CANCER search with you. Match yourself against the eligibility criteria. Then call the coordinators. It's homework, but it's very doable homework. And it can open doors that don't appear on a standard treatment menu.
Sources
Common questions
Where do I search for cancer clinical trials?
Two main free tools: NCI's find-a-trial search at cancer.gov (searchable by keyword, cancer type, age, or ZIP code) and ClinicalTrials.gov, the NIH registry of studies. You can also call NCI's Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237), where a specialist can search for you or guide you. Cancer centers and advocacy groups may also list trials.
What information do I need before searching?
The details that determine eligibility: your exact cancer type and subtype, stage, any biomarker or genetic test results (from your pathology report), treatments you've already had, your age, and your general health. Your care team can help you assemble this — much of it is in your pathology report and treatment summary.
What are eligibility criteria?
Rules about who can join a study — often based on cancer type and stage, prior treatments, biomarkers, age, and overall health. If you don't qualify for one trial, others may fit.
Do I have to travel to join a trial?
It depends on the trial. Each listing shows its locations, so check travel needs before you apply. Ask the trial coordinator what travel is required and whether any help exists.
Who pays for care in a clinical trial?
Generally there are two kinds of costs: research costs (the study drug and study-specific tests), which may be covered by the trial sponsor, and routine patient care costs, which are often covered by health insurance. Medicare may reimburse some trial costs (1-800-633-4227), and Medicaid covers routine care in trials, according to NCI. Confirm the specifics with the trial team and your insurer before enrolling.
What should I ask the trial team when I contact them?
Ask what the study is testing and what phase it is, what would be required of you (visits, tests, time), the possible benefits and risks, whether you could get a placebo, which costs are covered, whether travel help exists, and whether you can leave the study at any time (you always can). Bring the answers back to your own oncologist to discuss the fit.
Questions to ask your doctor
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Cancer Explained provides educational guidance, but does not replace trained specialists, social workers, or your medical team.
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Locate copay assistance foundations, grant programs, and lodging/travel support.
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Search matching studies and speak with NCI trial information specialists.
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Last updated: 2026-10-02Next planned review: 2027-01-04
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Cancer Explained does not originate medical claims. Every page restates guidance already published by the National Cancer Institute, the CDC, the USPSTF and the FDA, in plain language, with the source cited so you can check the original yourself. AI does the translating and organizing; automated checks test claims, citations, clarity and safety before anything publishes, and this is translation and navigation, not clinical judgment. Nothing here is personal medical advice, and no page can account for your particular situation.
Editorial status: Source checked — This page was written with AI assistance and then compared with the sources listed on it, looking for statements those sources do not back up. That check is not a sentence-by-sentence record and can miss errors. It is not a medical review, and it does not confirm the page is complete or right for your situation.
Human medical review: not completed. Pages here are not signed off by a clinician before they publish. That is not an oversight we are quietly working around: we restate published guidance and cite it, so the authority belongs to the source rather than to us, and every page names where its claims come from — you can verify us instead of trusting us. Where a volunteer clinician has reviewed a page, their name and credentials appear on it; where no name appears, no clinician has checked it. We are glad to have reviewers and are recruiting them, and we do not hold pages back waiting for one. Use this site to understand your situation and to ask better questions of the people treating you.
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