Behavioral Research & Treatment Center

The Behavioral Research and Treatment Center (BRTC) is designed to support population-based research studies in behavioral science, health disparities and integrative medicine. The studies and clinical trials conducted in the center are specifically related to tobacco cessation, exercise during and after cancer treatment, and behaviors and emotions associated with cancer and cancer-forming habits. 

The BRTC is the central headquarters to as many as 45 clinical trials and research studies including the Tobacco Research and Treatment Program, MD Anderson’s institution-wide tobacco cessation and relapse prevention program.

The center provides research investigators the tools and space needed to conduct clinical trials and research benefiting smokers, non-smokers, cancer survivors and cancer patients. The center has an array of trials and studies available to the community as well as MD Anderson patients.

What is a clinical trial or study?

Often referred to as clinical research, a clinical trial or research study is medical research that involves people who participate in a carefully executed investigation conducted in a laboratory or patient-care setting where new therapies and procedures are tested. The goal is to discover better ways to prevent, treat, diagnose and understand disease.