When it comes to cancer, heart disease and a host of other illnesses, one of the most effective tools out there is a clinical trial.

Simply put, it gives doctors a way to study a medical device or drug in people.

Judi Thallas knows all about challenges. She's easing back into exercise after battling breast cancer.

Thallas found a lump two years ago and chose a clinical trial after her mastectomy.

"I never felt I was at risk at all," she says. "I felt it was the right thing to do for myself, for my family, and for future generations."

A current trial for colon cancer works the same as did Judi's. Doctors say all patients get treatment at least as good as standard care and may get superior therapy.

Patients must meet the criteria. They must also be okay with not being in total control. Judi's trial focused on the drug, herceptin. Patients were randomly assigned to three groups. One received chemotherapy alone. The other two got chemo and herceptin at different times.

Dr. Joe Verdirame, an oncologist with Alegent Immanuel Medical Center says, "Even though they may all be equivalent in our eyes, patients may not like the side effects with the first combo or because a friend had the second combo, that's what they want. So, they're not a good candidate for randomization."

Dr. Verdirame is Judi's oncologist and he found the progress made by Judi and others amazing. Those on herceptin and chemotherapy did 50 percent better than those on chemotherapy alone. Based on the studies, herceptin is now part of standard breast cancer treatment.

That gives meaning to Judi's experience and makes the serious side effect she encountered -- heart damage that has since healed itself -- easier to take.

She says, "When you start to have doubts, am I doing the right thing, maybe I don't want this course of treatment anymore. No, I can't stop. I'm not a quitter. I want to go forward."

Judi has done just that. She has been cancer-free for a year-and-a-half.

There are more than 27,000 clinical trials going on in the United States including hundreds right here in Omaha. To find out more, go to the National Institutes of Health Web site.

Bergan Mercy Medical Center	Immanuel Medical Center
Lakeside Hospital	Midlands Hospital
Mercy Hospital	Alegent Health Clinic