(European Society for Medical Oncology) Clinical trials are fundamental to the development of new treatments for cancer, yet the annual accrual to cancer clinical trials worldwide is low, estimated at three to five percent. A nationwide study in Ireland, the preliminary results of which are to be presented at the ESMO 2017 Congress in Madrid, shows that although most oncology patients consider it important to have clinical trials available, many struggle with the central concepts that underpin trial methodology.