Clinical Trials That Change Lives

Spain has launched a new public platform designed to encourage wider participation in clinical research by sharing the real-life experiences of patients and researchers.

Despite the fact that more than 170,000 patients and their family members take part in clinical studies across Spain, public awareness of how clinical trials are conducted and the role they play in improving patient care remains surprisingly limited.

The +Ensayos initiative aims to make clinical research more accessible and easier to understand by presenting authentic stories from people whose lives have been shaped by participation in medical research.

The campaign opens with a short film featuring a 70-year-old man celebrating what he calls his "twelfth birthday"—the anniversary of the day he entered a clinical trial that transformed his life.

A Patient's Experience

One of the participants, Esther Martín, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis eleven years ago.

She describes joining a clinical trial as a turning point in her treatment journey.

Before entering the study, she had undergone two different treatment programmes that failed to halt the progression of her disease and caused significant side effects. When neurologists offered her the opportunity to participate in a trial of a new therapy, she accepted without hesitation.

According to Esther, participation in a clinical trial creates a close relationship between the patient and the medical team. Patients also benefit from particularly careful follow-up, including regular imaging studies and laboratory investigations throughout the course of the research.

When Researchers Become Patients

The campaign also features two women whose professional careers have been devoted to medical research but who later experienced serious illness themselves.

One of them is Marisol Soengas, Head of the Melanoma Group at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO).

She says that one's perspective on clinical research changes profoundly when faced with illness personally.

After being diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer, she chose to participate in an experimental clinical study. She describes the experience as something that fundamentally changed the way she views scientific research.

"As a researcher, you focus on the effectiveness and safety of treatment. As a patient, the first thing you look for is hope."

A New Therapeutic Opportunity

Another participant is Dr Ana Casas, a breast cancer oncologist who has also experienced the disease herself.

In her view, offering a patient the opportunity to join a clinical trial means offering a new therapeutic option—one that may provide access to treatments not yet available in routine clinical practice.

Making Clinical Research More Accessible

The +Ensayos platform is an educational initiative created to improve public understanding of clinical research and address the lack of awareness that continues to surround this area of medicine.

The project is supported by almost thirty organisations, including the Spanish Ministry of Health, the Carlos III Health Institute, the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices (AEMPS), scientific societies, professional organisations and patient associations.

Juan Yermo, Director General of Farmaindustria, summarises the initiative's ambition:

"We must do everything possible to make clinical research accessible to more people. Significant unmet medical needs remain, particularly in rare diseases, and Spain has one of the strongest clinical research systems in this field."

This initiative highlights not only the scientific value of clinical research, but also its human dimension—showing how advances in medicine begin with the willingness of patients, clinicians and researchers to move forward together.