Yüksel Ürün: Improving Clinical Trials for a Healthier Tomorrow

Yüksel Ürün, Professor at the Department of Medical Oncology, Ankara University School of Medicine, recently posted on X/Twitter:

“Advancing Medicine Together: Improving Clinical Trials for a Healthier Tomorrow

Undoubtedly, the best way to achieve greater heights in science is through scientific research.

In recent years, despite the intervening COVID pandemic, we have witnessed numerous clinical trials in medicine that have changed practice, especially in the field of cancer.

For this, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone involved, particularly the patients and their families who participate in clinical trials, as well as the researchers, sponsors, and everyone who contributes to this field.

However, we must continue to work together to further improve clinical trials.

My humble 10 suggestions for this are as follows: (Please add any other suggestions)

1. Toxicity Reporting: Enhance the reporting of toxicity data to better understand and mitigate adverse effects experienced by patients.

2. Patient-Reported Outcomes: Prioritize the inclusion of patient-reported outcomes in trial designs to better capture the patient experience and the impact of treatments on their quality of life.

3. Enhanced Accessibility: Increase the accessibility of trials to patients by simplifying enrollment processes, expanding locations, and utilizing digital health technologies.

4. Patient Advocacy: Involve patient advocacy groups in trial design to ensure patient needs and concerns are addressed.

5. Diversity in Participants: Strive for greater diversity in trial participants to ensure findings apply to a broader population.

6. Control Arms as Standard of Care (SOC): Use the current standard of care as a control arm in trials to provide a relevant comparison for new treatments.

7. Cross-Over Design: Allow cross-over in trials if the treatment is proven effective, giving all participants access to beneficial treatments.

8. Biomarker Studies for Established Efficacy: Increase the focus on biomarker studies in cases where efficacy has been established, to tailor treatments to individual patients better.

9. Data Sharing: Promote more extensive data sharing among researchers to accelerate scientific discovery and improve trial designs.

10. Reporting Negative Trials Timely: Ensure timely reporting of negative trial results to aid in the overall understanding of treatment efficacy and safety.”

Source: Yüksel Ürün/X