How to find clinical trials in Turkey: a registry-navigation guide
If standard treatment options have been exhausted or exist for your case, a clinical trial may be worth exploring alongside your treating team. This page explains how to search the three registries that actually cover trials in Turkey — it doesn’t name, recommend, or evaluate any specific trial.
ClinicalTrials.gov, filtered to Turkey
ClinicalTrials.gov is the largest public trial registry, run by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Its search lets you filter by country (Turkey / Türkiye) and by condition — search your specific cancer type together with the country filter to see what’s currently listed with a Turkish site, including each trial’s own stated eligibility criteria and contact information.
The EU trial registries
The EU’s Clinical Trials Information System (CTIS) and the older EU Clinical Trials Register cover trials conducted in EU/EEA countries — Turkey isn’t part of that scope on its own, but a multinational trial that includes a Turkish site alongside EU sites is often registered here too, so it’s worth checking as a second angle on the same search.
TİTCK’s own registry
TİTCK (Türkiye İlaç ve Tıbbi Cihaz Kurumu — Turkey’s medicines and medical devices regulator) approves and records clinical research conducted in Turkey through its own portal. Trials with only Turkish sites, not part of a larger international study, are most reliably found here rather than in the international registries above.
What eligibility screening actually involves
Every trial has its own eligibility criteria — typically specific to cancer type, stage, prior treatments received, and overall health status — set by that trial’s own investigators, not by any registry or by us. Meeting the criteria listed in a registry entry doesn’t guarantee enrollment; the trial’s own coordinator confirms eligibility directly, usually after reviewing your specific medical records.
Questions to ask a trial coordinator
- What phase is this trial, and what does that mean for what’s already known about it?
- What exactly does the protocol require of me — visit frequency, location, duration?
- What happens if I need to withdraw partway through?
- Does participating affect my ability to receive standard treatment if the trial doesn’t help?
- Who do I contact if I have concerns during the trial?