What is the difference between patient care costs and research costs in a clinical trial?

Patient care costs are the costs you would pay even if you weren't taking part in a clinical trial — things like doctor visits, hospital stays, standard cancer treatments, lab tests, and imaging such as x-rays or scans. These costs are often covered by insurance, similar to how they'd be covered outside of a trial.

Research costs are costs that exist specifically because you're part of the study. This can include the study drug itself, lab tests done only for research purposes, extra imaging added just for the trial, or additional doctor visits required by the study protocol. Research costs are often not covered by insurance, but the study sponsor may cover them instead.

Knowing which category a cost falls into can help you understand who's likely to be responsible for paying it, and it's a useful framework to use when asking the study coordinator about your specific situation.