Benjamin Herzberg, Thoracic Oncologist at Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, shared a post on X:
“This is an important paper for clinical trialists to read and think about.
Many trials we run have this form: Drug A has a small benefit. Drug B has a small benefit. There is a paper that shows that Drug A + Drug B synergizes in the lab. We should run a trial of A + B”
To which Adam J. Schoenfeld, Thoracic Medical Oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, added:
“Agree Benjamin Herzberg! This resonates. “Synergy” is often overused, and if a trial depends on synergy to work, it often makes me a little worried.
Combinations can still be rational without synergy: active therapies, non-overlapping resistance patterns, manageable toxicity, and using effective treatments early while patients are still able to receive them.
I commonly reference these Adam C Palmer’s ICI-combo papers as reminders that many effective combinations may reflect independent drug activity rather than true pharmacologic synergy. ”
Read the articles:
Article 1
Article 2
Other articles featuring Benjamin Herzberg and Adam J. Schoenfeld on OncoDaily.