Treatment Success in CancerNew Cancer Treatment Successes Identified in Phase 3 Randomized Controlled Trials Conducted by the National Cancer Institute–Sponsored Cooperative Oncology Groups, 1955 to 2006

Abstract

Although cancer remains the second leading cause of deaths in the United States,¹ there have been continuous improvements in survival and other outcomes in patients with cancer over time.¹ To a large extent, this has occurred through the introduction of new treatments tested in clinical trials,² with randomized controlled trials (RCTs) widely considered to be the most reliable method of assessing differences between the effects of health care interventions.^3,4 Cancer is the only disease for which the National Institutes of Health has consistently funded a cooperative clinical trial infrastructure.⁴ Despite this investment,⁵ little is known about the proportion of clinical trials that have led to the discovery of successful new treatments.⁶