A ) Clinical trials are studies of new or experimental treatments in patients. This type of study is offered to eligible patients when there is reason to believe that the treatment being studied may offer benefits to the patient, such as improved outcomes or side effect management. There are three phases of clinical trials a treatment must complete before it is eligible for approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Phase I is to study the best way to give a new treatment and study its safety. It is often the first time the specific agent has been tested in a human, outside a laboratory. Phase II is designed to see if the treatment works. Phase III involves large numbers of patients and divides patients into two groups—a control group and the group receiving the new treatment.