Patients should not be discouraged from entering trials

EDITOR,—Charlotte Williamson's editorial highlights the benefits of involving patients in decisions about their treatment and of patients' participation in research.1 Two years ago I was diagnosed as having breast cancer. I had recently started a PhD investigating the application of randomised controlled trial methods to my specialty and had just returned from a course at which the ethics surrounding a randomised controlled trial in breast cancer were discussed.

I had decided, before I was told my diagnosis, that …