How TrialFinderData Builds These Pages

TrialFinderData makes clinical trials searchable and understandable by translating clinical jargon into plain English while preserving accuracy. We pull directly from the federal registry so patients and caregivers can find relevant trials and understand who qualifies — then talk to their doctor.

Data Source

Our sole data source is the ClinicalTrials.gov API v2 (clinicaltrials.gov/api/v2/studies) — the official federal registry of clinical trials maintained by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Under federal law (FDA Amendments Act of 2007, FDAAA 801), most clinical trials of drugs and devices conducted in the United States must register on ClinicalTrials.gov, making it the most comprehensive single source of trial information in the world. We do not use third-party scraped data, paid commercial registries, or estimates.

Trial data on ClinicalTrials.gov is in the public domain. ClinicalTrials.gov began as a result of the 1997 FDA Modernization Act and has expanded its scope through subsequent legislation; the current API v2 surfaces every public field on every registered trial. For background on the FDA approval pathway that Phase 3 results feed into, see the FDA drug approval process documentation.

What We Show on Each Trial Page

For each trial registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, we present:

• Trial summary — what the trial is studying, sourced verbatim from the brief summary registered with ClinicalTrials.gov.
• Plain-English eligibility — a translation of the inclusion and exclusion criteria into accessible language, with the original clinical text preserved for verification.
• Trial phase — Phase 1 (safety and dosing), Phase 2 (initial efficacy), Phase 3 (large-scale confirmation, the basis for FDA approval submissions), or Phase 4 (post-approval monitoring).
• Status — whether the trial is actively recruiting, not yet recruiting, active but enrollment closed, completed, suspended, terminated, or withdrawn.
• Sponsor — the organization funding the trial: pharmaceutical company, biotech, medical device manufacturer, academic institution, hospital, foundation, or government agency.
• Locations — every trial site registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, including facility name and city/state/country, so participants can identify nearby options.
• Trial details — NCT ID, study type, target enrollment, age range, sex eligibility, and start and completion dates.

Plain-English Translation Process

ClinicalTrials.gov publishes eligibility criteria in clinical language. The criteria are written for trial coordinators, investigators, and IRB review boards — not for patients deciding whether to inquire about a study. Our translations follow a few rules:

• Preserve accuracy. A translation that simplifies the criteria so much that someone unqualified could mistakenly believe they fit is worse than no translation. We retain the structure of inclusion and exclusion criteria and never drop a criterion.
• Replace clinical terminology with everyday equivalents. "ECOG performance status 0–1" becomes "you must be able to carry out normal daily activities with minimal restrictions." "Adequate hepatic function" becomes "your liver function tests must be within acceptable ranges."
• Keep the original visible. Every trial page preserves the unmodified clinical text in a collapsible section, so clinicians can verify the translation against the source.
• Flag medical decisions. Every trial page includes a prominent disclaimer reminding readers that eligibility is ultimately confirmed at a screening visit and that trial participation is a medical decision requiring physician input.

How Often Data Refreshes

ClinicalTrials.gov is updated continuously as sponsors register new trials and update existing ones. Federal regulation requires sponsors to update trial status within 30 days of a change, but compliance varies — some sponsors update aggressively, others lag. We refresh our copy of the database periodically and show the last update timestamp on every page. If you are about to travel for a screening visit, always confirm current status either through the trial site contact information or directly on ClinicalTrials.gov, where the live record is the authoritative source.

Known Limitations

• Coverage is broad but not complete. While FDAAA 801 requires registration of most U.S. drug and device trials, some early-stage academic studies, observational studies outside the FDA's purview, and trials run exclusively outside the United States may not appear on ClinicalTrials.gov.
• Status currency varies. Sponsors are required to update within 30 days of a change, but delays happen. A trial listed as "Recruiting" may have closed enrollment days before our last refresh; conversely, a trial listed as "Not yet recruiting" may have just opened.
• Plain-English translations simplify. Our translations preserve the structure of the criteria but cannot capture every subtlety. Patients should always discuss the original clinical eligibility with their physician before pursuing screening.
• We do not assess trial quality. Phase, sponsor, and recruitment status are facts; whether a specific trial is appropriate for a specific patient — given their condition, prior treatments, comorbidities, and goals — is a medical decision we cannot make.
• We do not endorse sponsors or sites. Inclusion of a trial on this site is not a recommendation. The structure of the page is the same regardless of sponsor, and we do not accept payment for trial visibility.

Authoritative Sources Beyond ClinicalTrials.gov

For broader context on clinical research, several federal and international resources are useful: the FDA drug approval process describes how Phase 3 results feed into regulatory decisions; the National Cancer Institute publishes patient-oriented guides for cancer trials specifically; the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform aggregates registries from countries beyond the U.S.; and the AACT Database at Duke provides a relational version of ClinicalTrials.gov data for researchers who need bulk analysis.

How to Cite This Data

If you reference TrialFinderData, please cite:

TrialFinderData. "[Condition] Clinical Trials." trialfinderdata.org, 2026. Accessed [date].

Underlying data is sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov, maintained by the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health. Trial data is in the public domain.

Frequently Asked Questions