Oncologists Are 'Sacrificing Common Sense' in Pursuit of Innovation
This article by Bish Gyawali an oncologist and academic from Canada looks at oncologist’s reaction to clinical trials, which do not fit with their expectations. The recent GOG-0213 trial previously reported on this blog is cited as an example*.
The trial challenged the general belief that further surgery for ovarian patients after recurrence was beneficial. In fact the evidence shows no benefit, with overall survival being decreased on average by 14 months if surgery was repeated. Despite this finding many oncologists continue to recommend second surgery because it seems logical so to do.
Gyawali says there is a need for critical appraisal of current practice and that an obsessive quest for new drugs has taken precedence over common sense. He states that public funding of non-drug trials is essential and that the end point of all trials should be overall survival not the “surrogate” measurement of progression free survival. In addition quality of life assessment should be mandatory, (less than half of all oncology drug trials measure this).
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