Nov. 7 (HealthDay News) -- A free online service that provides clinical trial information for women diagnosed or at risk for breast cancer was launched this week by the University of California, San Francisco, Center of Excellence for Breast Cancer Care.

BreastCancerTrials.org includes information about clinical trials taking place at more than 1,100 medical facilities across the United States.

"BreastCancerTrials.org is an exciting, win-win development for the breast cancer community," Dr. Laura Esserman, director of the UCSF Center of Excellence for Breast Cancer Care and the UCSF Carol Franc Buck Breast Care Center, said in a university news release.

"Every advance in our understanding and treatment of breast cancer has come from clinical trial results. The more we can empower our patients to find out about and participate in trials, the faster we will be able to complete trials, and the sooner this new knowledge will translate into better care and outcomes for all patients," she said.

It's hoped that many more women will consider taking part in clinical trials if they're encouraged to do so, and it's easy for them to find and evaluate clinical trials for which they may be eligible.

Web site users enter a detailed health history and are then matched to trials specific to their personal health situation. The site provides additional criteria for enrollment in a trial, along with details on how to get more information. Women can use BreastCancerTrials.org once or store their health history on secure servers for continual matching to newly listed trials. Users' health information is never sold or shared with external parties.

It can be a challenge for researchers to recruit patients for clinical trials, because very few patients know that they may be eligible to participate in research studies, according to the Clinical Research Roundtable at the Institute of Medicine.

SOURCE: University of California, San Francisco, news release, October 2008