Radiotherapy Clinical Trials Not Being Published?

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In summary, the conversation discussed the concerning issue of failure to publish trial results, with a study showing that the majority of trials do not even publish a summary of their results. This raises concerns about the purpose of conducting trials and the potential risks for patients. The conversation also touched on the issue of publication bias, where negative results are often not published or accepted by major journals. There is a growing effort to address the issues of credibility and reliability in scientific publications.
  • #1
Choppy
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I just noticed this article based on a talk presented at the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology conference.

Failure to publish trial results exposes patients to risks without providing benefits

An analysis of 802 trials with a primary completion date of before 1 January 2013 showed that 655, or 81.7%, did not publish even a summary result.

It's rather concerning on a number of levels: primarily what's the point of conducting a trial if you're not going to publish the results?
 
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  • #2
If failure - inconclusive results also - is a factor in not publishing as your link indicates
This study:
https://nccih.nih.gov/research/results/stjohnswort
Found that St John's Wort extract was not effective for treating depression. This was useful to anyone who read it.

There must be something else going on here. And it is a broad problem apparently, called publication bias.
Anyway, here is a link on publication bias and how it affects meta-analysis:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3733739/
 
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  • #3
Many major journals, e.g. Nature, refuse to publish negative results. That's right - they would have refused to publish Michelson-Morely.

It's gotten so bad that in some fields, there are journals that publish only negative results: e.g. New Negatives in Plant Science. Go botany!
 
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Likes Fervent Freyja
  • #4
I think I was generally aware that in some cases results aren't published, but the fact that the vast majority of them did not even publish a summary caught me by surprise. The article talks about how in the US since 2007, publication of the results is actually required by law.
 
  • #5
There are lots of things going on at the moment in an effort to restore credibility to a lot of science publication, the so called "crisis of confidence" there is increasing evidence of a whole range of issues ranging from downright corruption, misrepresenting finding, failure in the peer review system, hiding results, changing success criteria part way through trials and so it goes on. The problem is that a great deal of money rests on publication and impact factors, Poppers ideas around research would suggest that negative results are in fact more important than positive results but many people see failure to achieve significant findings as a failure and don't even submit paper, and for them that do, journals want papers with findings, it attracts custom and so there is an estimated 3 to 1 bias in favour of papers showing significant results. Its a bit frightening that medical research is in fact considered to be among the least reliable. A quick read of some of the stuff on Retraction Watches website should increase your anxiety a little more.
 

1. Why are some radiotherapy clinical trials not being published?

There could be several reasons why a radiotherapy clinical trial is not being published. Some possible reasons include negative or inconclusive results, lack of funding or resources, or the trial being terminated early due to safety concerns.

2. How common is it for radiotherapy clinical trials to not be published?

It is difficult to determine the exact percentage of unpublished radiotherapy clinical trials, as this information is not always publicly available. However, a study published in 2016 found that roughly 40% of clinical trials across all medical fields go unpublished.

3. What are the implications of not publishing radiotherapy clinical trials?

Not publishing radiotherapy clinical trials can have several implications. It can lead to biased or incomplete information being available to other researchers, potentially hindering further advancements in the field. It can also result in patients being exposed to unproven or potentially harmful treatments.

4. Is there a solution to prevent radiotherapy clinical trials from going unpublished?

One potential solution is to require researchers to register their clinical trials before they begin, and to publicly report their results regardless of the outcome. This can help increase transparency and reduce publication bias. Some countries, such as the United States, have implemented laws that require clinical trial registration and reporting.

5. Are there any efforts being made to address the issue of unpublished radiotherapy clinical trials?

Yes, there are ongoing efforts to address the issue of unpublished radiotherapy clinical trials. These include initiatives such as the World Health Organization's International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, which aims to promote transparency and accountability in clinical research. Additionally, some medical journals have adopted policies that require authors to register their clinical trials and report their results in order to be considered for publication.

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