Errors made in the design and conduct of a clinical trial can make it impossible for the trial to provide a definitive answer about the effectiveness of a new approach. Poor design can thus lead to the abandonment of promising avenues of research that are based on sound basic scientific work and to delays in the introduction of new treatments into the general practice of medical oncology. ECCO, AACR, EORTC and ESMO have responded to this problem by designing jointly a programme that will:
- Introduce junior clinical oncologists in any oncology subspecialty to the principles of good clinical design: i.e. give them the tools they need to conduct clinical trials that will yield clear results which investigators can use to proceed to the next level of research;
- Expose junior clinical oncologists to the full spectrum of challenges in clinical research, from conventional antineoplastic agents and multidisciplinary treatment regimens to gene therapy, in the expectation that they will then want to devote all or a portion of their future careers to some aspects of clinical research;
- Develop a cadre of well-trained, experienced researchers whose expertise will foster better clinical trial designs and thereby hasten the introduction of improved regimens for cancer therapy and prevention into everyday medical practice and patient care.
