Early Cancer Drug Results: Are We Celebrating Too Soon?

Each year, we see tremendous enthusiasm surrounding top-line results for cancer drugs presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) annual meetings. The fanfare often continues on social media, with some calling these drugs a "game changer" or "new standard of care," despite only seeing an abstract or presentation about the trial.

But, for the sake of our patients and science, it is important for oncologists to read these clinical trials objectively and critically. I know this is easier said than done. And with the ESMO meeting right around the corner, I recently teamed up with my colleagues from the ESMO-Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale working group to develop a checklist to evaluate issues and identify flaws in clinical trials. Here, I have highlighted a series of important questions in 13 areas to help oncologists, as well as journalists, take a step back and carefully assess new cancer drug findings before getting swept up in the hype.

1. The trial type: First, is the study a single-arm or a randomized controlled trial (RCT)? Single-arm trials may be fraught with limitations, and responses are not necessarily interchangeable with those from RCTs (see examplesin hepatocellular cancer trials).