In a study published online this month in the Annals of Oncology, Italian researchers analyzed 25 randomized, controlled clinical trials that had been stopped early because they had started to show a benefit to patients and found that the numbers had increased dramatically in recent years. They warn that this could lead to a systematic overstatement of the effects of treatment, and that patients could be harmed by new therapies being rushed prematurely into the clinic.
Out of 14 trials stopped because they started to show benefit to patients and published between 2005–07, the researchers found that 11 were used to support an application for marketing authorization at the European Medicines Agency and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.For the full story in the April 24, 2008 issue of the ACRP Wire, click here.For more information about the ACRP Wire, click here.