Objective  To investigate the level of awareness of cancer patients on clinical research and related ethical knowledge, so as to lay the foundation for improving patients’ understanding of clinical research. Methods  A random questionnaire survey was conducted among cancer patients in the department of oncology and radiotherapy in Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, and make a statistical analysis of the results. Results  A total of 90 questionnaires were issued, of which 81 were valid questionnaires, with a recovery rate of 95.6%. 96.30% (78/81) of the patients indicated that they wanted to know their condition, and 75.31% of them believed that they had the hope of cure when they were aware of the disease. At present, 70.37% (57/81) of patients were still sceptical about whether the clinical research is beneficial or not. Among all the cancer patients surveyed, the willingness to participate in clinical research was only 40.7%. 82.72% (67/81) of the patients believed that signing the informed consent was unnecessary or indifferent. Multifactor analysis showed that the degree of education was an important factor affecting the patients’ understanding of clinical trials (P<0.05, OR=2.559, 95%CI=1.037~6.314), and the difference was statistically significant. Age factor affected patients’ demand for the right of informed consent (P<0.05, OR=3.450, 95%CI=1.684~7.067). Conclusions  At present, hospitalized cancer patients have strong demands o know their conditions, but they lack the knowledge of clinical research and related ethical knowledge. The publicity and explanation of clinical research and its ethical content in the treatment group of cancer patients should be expanded. The significance of the ethical review of clinical research and the protection of the subjects should be emphasized to improve the willingness of the cancer patients to participate in the clinical study.