Clinical trials in cancer. Part I. Biomedical, complementary, and alternative medicine: finding active trials and results of closed trials.

Most cancer CAM clinical trials are treatment or supportive care trials in phase I, II, or III status. A recent search showed that, at present, a very limited number of retrievable pharmaceutical- or industry-sponsored cancer CAM clinical trials is listed in publicly accessible databases. Two databases, Center Watch and Trial Check, focus on industry, healthcare providers, and patient advocate groups and have fees or limited access. As more clinical trials are imported from NLM's Clinical Trials.gov to NCI's PDQ database, more cancer CAM trials will be accessible and free to the public. Published results from clinical trials are available in multiple locations and retrievable with advanced searching but remain of limited access to most of the public because of academic or hospital library subscription services. All cancer clinical trial results are not likely to be housed in one location (either via database or in print); thus, cancer CAM clinical trial results likely will not be either. Because PDQ currently is the central location for cancer CAM clinical trial listings in the United States, the database should be expanded to include published results that are retrievable by healthcare professionals and the lay public free of charge. In clinical and research roles, oncology nurses are compelled to keep abreast of advances in cancer care, especially in the realm of cancer clinical trials. Keeping abreast of results of cancer CAM clinical trials is vital for oncology nurses in patient education, advocacy, and advancement of evidence-based practice.