Clinical Trial Design: A Tutorial for Research Advocates

[Guest guest]

Understanding Clinical Trial Design:

A Tutorial for Research Advocates

Authored by Jane Perlmutter, PhD

for Research Advocacy Network's Advocate Institute

Jane is also a participating patient advocate at CALGB

http://fightcolorectalcancer.org/download/RAT2008/CTTutorial.pdf

snip:

Trade-offs in Designing Clinical Trials

" Research advocates are increasingly playing an important role in designing

clinical

trials that are patient focused and likely to lead to important changes in

clinical

practice. We want to be sure that clinical trials are designed in a way that

will

lead to unequivocal results (i.e., are effective at answering research

questions).

However, we also want to be sure that trials can be completed as rapidly and

inexpensively

as possible (i.e., efficiently use resources), and that the patients who

volunteer

to be in trials get the best possible treatment (i.e., the trials achieve

the

highest ethical standards). These goals are often at cross purposes; thus,

clinical

trial designs generally represent a compromise. As shown in Figure 1 (page

2), in "

Applies for any cancer type.

Patients Against Lymphoma

www.Lymphomation.org

Evidence-based information on lymphoma, independent of health industry

funding