Possibly yes. The treatments used in clinical can sometimes cause side effects and other health risks depending on the type of treatment and the patient's condition. Side effects will often vary from patient to patient. Because clinical trials are research into new areas of treatment, the risks involved are not always known ahead of time, though extreme efforts have been taken to identify what possible side effects may occur. For this reason, trials can carry unknown dangers and side effects as well as hoped-for benefits. Patients need to know what is involved in a study – what side effects may be expected – and, as much as possible, what unknowns or uncertainties they may be facing. Your doctor or research nurse will inform you about the treatments being tested and provide you with a information that discusses the risks and hoped-for benefits of the clinical trial. If you agree to take part, you will be asked to sign a form, called an informed patient consent. Before you sign, ask the doctor or nurse to explain any part(s) of the form or the trial that are unclear to you. If you decide not to be in a trial, you may refuse. Even if you sign the consent form, you are free to leave the trial at any time and receive other available standard treatments from your physician. In clinical trials, most side effects are temporary and will gradually go away once treatment is stopped. As a patient, it can often be hard to decide what is the proper treatment. There are a number of things to consider. Your disease may be life-threatening, which are cause symptoms of its own that are not related to your treatment. In each case, the unavoidable risks of the illness itself, and your condition, should be weighed against the potential risks and possible benefits of new research treatment.