Archive for April 25th, 2010

Time to Revamp Clinical Trials

April 25, 2010

In an editorial today in the New York Times, the editors call for major changes in how cancer clinical trials should be run. Just two facts are enough to document the problem:

  • The average time between developing the concept for a study and getting it started is about 2.5 years.
  • about 40 percent of all advanced clinical trials sponsored by the Cancer Institute are never completed

One of the recommendations is to reduce the number of cooperative groups and the levels of approval required.


In a related post on The Medical Quack, there is discussion of the clinical trial experience for the patient with an excellent video below.

In both cases what I hope we all come to realize soon is the lethal lag time – a articulate by e-patient White Paper – these long lead time for studies can prove lethal for those waiting for new treatments.

Share this:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Delicious
  • Digg
  • Tumblr
  • StumbleUpon
  • Pinterest
  • Add to favorites
  • Email
  • RSS