You can retrieve existing trial records once you have registered for an account. For instructions, refer to Creating a CTRP Account.

After you have selected your search criteria, you can further limit or expand your search for trials as follows:

The search feature you choose determines which categories of trials will be returned, and the actions you can perform with those results, as shown in the table below. For rules that determine which trial details are displayed, refer to Types of Trials Included in Trial Search Results.

Search Option

Search All Trials

Search My Trials

Search Saved Drafts

Types of Trials Returned

All trials

  • Trials you own that are on hold
  • Trials you own, including those conducted at an affiliated site.

Partial Submissions

Actions Permitted

  • View Trial Details
  • Add/Update My Site (Abbreviated trials only)

  • Verify Trials (for trials you submitted but may not own)

    The results of this search may include a subset of trials that you own or submitted.

  • View Trial Details
  • Update Trials
  • Amend Trials
  • Request TSR/XML
  • Change Status
  • Add/Update My Site (Abbreviated trials only)
  • Verify Trials
  • View Trial Details
  • Complete Submissions
  • Add/Update My Site (Abbreviated trials only)

All registered users can search trials with the "Accepted" and subsequent processing status. Additionally, you can search for trials that you own that have not been validated. These trials are indicated by the "Submitted" status. See Trial Processing Statuses for information about statuses that occur during the course of the trial processing workflow.

How to Search for Existing Trials

  1. Click the Search Clinical Trials tab. Or, on the toolbar, click Search > Clinical Trials.
    The Search Clinical Trials page appears.
    Search Clinical Trials page
  2. Select or enter the appropriate information in the drop-down lists and text fields. (You do not have to select or enter any search criteria if you use the Search My Trials feature. When searching All Trials, you must select or enter at least one search criterion.) The following table describes the fields.

    If you are searching for a saved draft, you can search by the following criteria only:

    • Title
    • Phase
    • Purpose
    • Identifier Type (NCT Exact Match, Lead Organization, or Other Identifier only)
    • Organization Type (Lead Organization only)
    • Organization
    • Principal Investigator

    Because the system adds wildcards for you, do not enter wildcard symbols in the search fields.

    Trial Search Criteria

    Field

    Instructions/Description

    Title

    To narrow the search by this trial attribute, specify one or more words from the

    Phase

    To narrow the search by this trial attribute, specify the  For valid values, refer to Trial Phase Value Definitions.

    Pilot Trial?

    To narrow the search by this trial attribute, specify

    • To find trials identified as pilot trials, select Yes.
    • To find trials identified as not pilot trials, select No.
    • To find trial records on which no pilot value has been specified, select None.

    Purpose

    To narrow the search by this trial attribute, specify the  For valid values, refer to Primary Purpose Value Definitions.

    Identifier Type

    To narrow the search by both identifier and the type of trial identifier, specify both. Valid identifier types are as follows:

    • NCI - The unique identifier assigned to the trial by the NIH National Cancer Institute.
    • NCT (Exact Match) - The unique identifier assigned to the trial by the ClinicalTrials.gov Protocol Registration System (PRS). Provide the exact number, including the NCT prefix. Example: NCT00012345
    • Lead Organization - The unique identifier assigned to the trial by the lead organization.
    • Other identifier - Additional trial identifier such as unique identifier from other registries, NIH grant numbers, or protocol numbers assigned by the Review Board.

    The Identifier Type field is optional, even when specifying an identifier.

    Identifier

    To narrow the search by this trial attribute, specify the numeric or alphanumeric identifier assigned to the trial. For Inter-Group trials, specify the Lead Group's trial number.

    Organization Type

    To narrow the search by both organization and organization type, specify both. Valid organization types are as follows:

    • Lead Organization - Returns all trials on which the selected organization is the Lead Organization
    • Participating Site - Returns all trials on which the selected organization is a Participating Site
    • Both - Returns all trials on which the selected organization is either the Lead Organization or Participating Site

      You can change the Organization Type without affecting any other search criteria you may have selected previously.

    Organization

    To narrow the search by this trial attribute, specify the initial letter(s) of the organization. The system suggests organizations as you type. Select the organization from the list of suggestions.

    To search for trials by organization without having to specify what role the organization plays in the trial, select Both from the Organization Type list, and then select the name of the organization of interest.

    Principal Investigator

    To narrow the search by this trial attribute, specify the Enter the initial letter(s) of the principal investigator's last name. The system suggests names as you type. Select the investigator name from the list of suggestions.

    Search by Trial Category

    To narrow the search by this trial attribute, specify the For information about these categories, refer to CTRP Trial Categories, Study Sources. Otherwise, select Both.

  3. Click Search.

    The Search menu options are displayed.

    Search menu showing list of searchable items

  4. Do one of the following:
  5. To see the alternate titles associated with a trial, click the asterisk (link).
    The list of alternate titles is displayed in the Trial Alternate Titles window.
    Clinical Trials Search Results page showing alternate titles for a trial

    If you searched for "My Trials", the search results table displays an additional column, Accrual Disease Terminology. You can select a new terminology from the drop-down list only if the trial has not accrued patients.

    Additionally, you can change accrual disease terminology at any time for trials currently recording accruals at the summary level only.

    Clinical Trials Search Result Page showing disease code terminology column

  6. To view a trial, click its NCI Trial Identifier link. The Trial Details page appears. For information about this page, refer to Viewing Trial Details

For more information, refer to the following pages: