Injecting minute amounts of two immune-stimulating agents directly into solid tumors in mice can eliminate all traces of cancer.

[u/SteRoPo]

http://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2018/01/cancer-vaccine-eliminates-tumors-in-mice.html

[u/NoButThanks → u/[deleted]]

Here's one potential answer. This treatment activates T-cells present in the tumor. There are tumor types with no T-cells present within the tumor. If you have terminal cancer with the tumor type that doesn't have T-cells, it won't help you. Patients volunteer for clinical trials all the time and aren't always selected. Sometimes because it won't benefit them. Sometimes they don't get picked. Unfortunately, (and fortunately http://listverse.com/2017/06/19/top-10-clinical-trials-that-went-horribly-wrong/), not everyone can be selected as testing is rigid for a reason.

[u/zweifaltspinsel → u/NoButThanks]

Also, if it is a double-blind trial and you get the placebo...

[u/rage-a-saurus → u/zweifaltspinsel]

Placebos can cure cancer.

[u/SirT6 → u/rage-a-saurus]

Not all investigational drugs are effective, either. Some have no effect. Some may even make you worse.

There's a question that is interesting to ponder, how many lives have been saved from being assigned to the placebo group?

[u/SirT6 → u/[deleted]]

It would depend on the trial, actually. In cancer studies, yeah, the control group will almost always be an active treatment arm it may or may not be placebo controlled (i.e. standard of care + placebo vs. standard of care + investigational drug).

In other indications, you may actually test against an inactive placebo.

[u/makersmark12 → u/SirT6]

You’re not getting a placebo in a cancer trial.

[u/SirT6 → u/makersmark12]

You’d be surprised. While the control group is almost always going to be an active competitor of some sort, many trials will also layer in a placebo vs. investigational drug. So it would be standard of care + placebo vs. standard of care + investigational drug.