To show that a new drug is better than, as good as, or no worse than that of a known effective drug. Theoretically, it is necessary to confirm the efficacy of a treatment, but the current practice of clinical trial suggests that there exists many problems in its confirmation including the objectives of clinical investigation vary based on the fact that more and more clinical trials use active controls. Applied statistical methods have to adapt to these changes. In this paper, we illustrated some statistical issues of confirming efficacy in clinical trials, including its conditions, the determination of clinical margin, the forms of the null and alternative hypothesis and confidence intervals, the choice of endpoints and some miscellaneous considerations. We bly suggests that it is necessary to make biostatisticians and clinical trialists understand the importance of using the right statistical methods when investigating clinical trials. We also think these methods introduced in the paper may provide some help in trial design and evaluation.
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), more than 200 interventional clinical trials have been registered in Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (www.chictr.org.cn) and the US Clinical Trials Registry (www.clinicaltrials.gov), testing or going to test treatments of COVID-19 in China from January 23rd, 2020 to March 5th, 2020. This situation has drawn attentions from various sectors of society. This article summarizes the basic design features of 249 registered COVID-19 clinical trials in China, compares them with National Clinical Trials Network practices in the USA, and describes a concept of national clinical trials network as a strategy to enhance quality and efficiency of clinical research in cases like COVID-19 outbreak as well as other disease fields.
Objective To know the current status of multinational clinical trials (MNCTs) in East Asia, and to find the characters of MNCTs in countries/regions. Methods We downloaded the trial records of East Asia on May 8, 2008 from ClinicalTrials.gov and analyzed the data. Results The number of clinical trials sponsored by industry was 125 in China Mainland, 196 in Taiwan, 134 in Hong Kong, 264 in Korea, and 231 in Japan, respectively. Of the total 654 clinical trials in East Asia, 307 (47%) trials were MNCTs, most of which were conducted by Euro-American pharmaceutical companies, such as Pfizer, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Main therapeutic areas were cancer, followed by CNS diseases, cardiovascular diseases, infectious diseases, diabetes mellitus and respiratory diseases. Trials in phaseⅢwere 198 (65%), in phaseⅣ32 (10%), others in phaseⅡorⅠ. One hundred and ninety trials (62%) were double-blind clinical trials, about half of them using placebo. The characters of clinical trials in China were: ① Most of MNCTs were large scale trials with big sample size and many study sites; ② Most of local trials were phase Ⅲ trials; ③ There were no phase Ⅰ trials. The characters in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Korea were: 1) Most of the trials (84% in Taiwan and 93% in Hong Kong, 72% in Korea) were MNCTs, 2) A lot of large scale trials were conducted with each other. The characters of clinical trials in Japan were: ① MNCTs were only 17%, ② Large scale trials were fewer. Conclusion In East Asia, MNCTs are developing because of the initiation of the Europe and America pharmaceutical giants. It seems that the regulation in each country influence the development pattern of East Asia.
Objective To compare the balance of simple randomization, stratified blocked randomization and minimization. Methods Monte Carlo technique was employed to simulate the treatment allocation of simple randomization, stratified blocked randomization and minimization respectively, then the balance of treatment allocation in each group and the balance for every prognostic factor were compared. Results The simulation demonstrated that minimization provides the best performance to ensure balance in the number of patients between groups and prognostic factors. Balance in prognostic factors achieved with stratified blocked randomization was similar to that achieved with simple randomization. Conclusion Minimization offers the best balance in the number of patients and prognostic factors between groups.
Objective To introduce the use of Central Randomization System in clinical trials. Methods We discussed the application of Central Randomization System in clinical trials from object management, drug management and user management, and made a brief description of minimization method. Results Central Randomization Systems can guarantee the nnplementation of the scheme of randomization, and can be used in clinical trials with minimization. Conclusion Central Randomization Systems are feasible in clinical trials especially in traditional Chinese medicine and open clinical trials.
As a science which focuses on evidence, the decision making process of evidence medicine encounters an opportunity for development in the big data era. The starting point is shifting forward from evidence to data. The big data technology is playing an active role in evidence's collection, process and utilization. Evidence is more objective, righteous, authentic, transparent and easier to collect. Thus, to initiate evidence-based medicine research in the big data era and to structure an evidence-based medicine intelligent service platform, a full-scaled strategy should be developed in order to improve the quality of evidence. To promote the complete publicity of clinical research data, structuralized clinical data standard should be constructed. To provide a pathway to patients' follow-up data, portable and wearable monitoring devices should be popularized. To avoid risks from utilization of clinical research big data, regulations of clinical data usage should be implemented.
Real-world data (RWD) in clinical research on specific categories of medical devices can generate sufficient quality evidence which will be used in decision making. This paper discusses the limitations of traditional randomized controlled trials in clinical research of medical devices, summarizes and analyses the applicable conditions of real-world evidence (RWE) for medical devices, interprets the new FDA guidance document on the characteristics of RWD for medical devices, in order to provide evidence for the use of RWE in medical devices in our country.
With the encouragement of national policy on drug and medical device innovation, multi-center clinical trials and multi-regional clinical trials are facing an unprecedented opportunity in China. Trials with a multi-center design are far more common at present than before. However, it should be recognized there still exists shortcomings in current multi-center trials. In this paper, we summarize the problems and challenges and provide corresponding resolutions with the aim to reduce heterogeneity between study centers and avoid excessive center effects in treatment. It is urgent to develop design, implementation and reporting guidelines to improve the overall quality of multi-center clinical trials.
The concept of clinical trial transparency has been promoted for more than 40 years. The act of clinical trial registration, report guidelines development, and data sharing has has been strongly pushed forward and become a common practice. The clinical trial process being the key procedure of trial operation and quality control, determines the accuracy of the results. However, the process report of clinical trials is insufficient. In this article, we summarize the importance of clinical trial process report and provide corresponding suggestions. We propose that medical journals, reporting guidelines developers and clinical trial registration platforms should work together to strengthen the process report of clinical trials and promote full transparency of clinical trials.
Recently, real world studies (RWS) have received increasing attentions. Such studies typically involve patient information, and their results may have potentially significant impact on patient well-being and safety. When reviewing the protocol of real world studies, ethical issues should be carefully considered and assessed. This paper discussed three issues, including the overview of bioethics and its application to classic clinical trials, key features of RWS, and medical ethical considerations on RWS.