How to improve clinical research in a department of radiation oncology.

This study overviewed the landscape of clinical research at our radiotherapy department. METHODS: We surveyed our institutional database of clinical trials to collect information for completed or ongoing radiation therapy clinical trials, from 2005 to December 2017 at the Lucien Neuwirth cancer institute. RESULTS: A total of 31 clinical trials were undertaken during the study period, of which 4 studies (12.9%) were industry-sponsored and 3 studies (9.7%) were launched by our radiotherapy unit. The vast majority of clinical trials (83.9%) were dedicated to unique organ localization, especially urological cancer (prostate or bladder) (42%). We also observed a shift towards more phase II trials during the study period as well as a special focus on elderly population. Over the last decade, the number of included patients increased by a 5.3 fold input, with 135 inclusions before 2011 and 720 inclusions after 2011. DISCUSSION: This study provided an observational and comprehensive analysis of radiotherapy research. From a monocentric point-of-view, these results reflected the on-going progress of worldwide radiotherapy research. Based on a 13-years' experience, this study aimed at highlighting essential cues to ensure efficient and perennial research. PMID: 32950241 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Bulletin du Cancer - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Bull Cancer Source Type: research