The Need For Adaptive Trial Design In Oncology Studies

The changing nature of clinical trials means studies in all therapeutic areas are rising in complexity. But even with thousands of pharmaceutical trials currently underway across the globe, oncology trials are still presenting more difficulty to sponsors due to size and numerous changes in study protocols.

According to the May/June 2021 Impact Report from the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development (Tufts CSDD), each phase of a traditional oncology trial can last nearly two years longer than those of non-oncology trials ¹.

The report also noted the following: “Clinical trial durations of oncology drugs are 30-40% longer than other drug trials, due to more complex designs and difficulty finding, enrolling, and retaining study volunteers” ¹. In addition to the expected complications that can arise from cancer studies, there are more sites, more countries, and more diverse patient populations involved than ever before.