Selected Clinical Trials Open to Patients with HIV Disease

In the last issue of AIDS Care we offered readers some helpful guidelines for deciding whether or not to participate in one or more of the scores of clinical trials that are currently enrolling people with HIV (see "Should You Participate in Clinical Trials?" in the December 1997 issue). That article listed both the pros and the cons of participation in these trials, provided readers with a short glossary of terms used in clinical trials, and concluded with a list of questions that prospective participants should ask -- and expect to have answered -- before enrolling in any clinical trial.

We encouraged prospective participants to discuss their options with their regular healthcare providers, with trial organizers, and with fellow patients -- especially those who have experience participating in such trials. For patients who are not doing well on the currently available treatments, clinical trials are a way of gaining access to new drugs that may prove more effective. Clinical trials are also a way for individuals with little or no health insurance to obtain treatments they might not otherwise be able to afford, and these trials generally provide all participants with extra medical care at no cost.

This Pull Out and Save section lists a number of large-scale national clinical trials that are currently enrolling HIV-infected individuals. The table indicates the antiretroviral agents being tested, inclusion/exclusion criteria (clinical status, CD4 count, viral load, previous drug experience), and the duration of the studies. The editors of HIV Newsline will update this list at appropriate intervals. For further information about these and other trials, call 1-800-TRIALS-A.