Efficiency of study designs in diagnostic randomized clinical trials

Evaluating the efficiency of targeted designs for randomized clinical trials.

PURPOSE Genomic technologies make it increasingly possible to identify patients most likely to benefit from a molecularly targeted drug. This creates the opportunity to conduct targeted clinical trials with eligibility restricted to patients predicted to be responsive to the drug. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN We evaluated the relative efficiency of a targeted clinical trial design to an untargeted des...

Efficiency perspectives on adaptive designs in stroke clinical trials.

An adaptive design allows the modifications of various features, such as sample size and treatment assignments, in a clinical study based on the analysis of interim data. The goal is to enhance statistical efficiency by maximizing relevant information obtained from the clinical data. The promise of efficiency, however, comes with a cost, per se, that is seldom made explicit in the literature. T...

Blindness in Randomized Controlled Trials

In combination with randomization, blinding or masking is an important factor in randomized controlled trials (RCTs), particularly in trials that assess therapeutic effects. Here an attempt is made to explain blindness and why it is important. In clinical trials, blinding is defined as the condition imposed on a study in which study participants, health care providers and assessors collecting o...

Tenecteplase versus reteplase in acute myocardial infarction: A network meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials

Background: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is the leading cause of death throughout the world. One of the standard approaches to treatment of AMI is fibrinolysis. The study was conducted to evaluate the clinical efficacy of tenecteplase versus reteplase through network meta-analysis for AMI. Methods: Randomized trials were comprehensively searched in PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane library, a...

Clinical Trials in Glioblastoma — Designs and Challenges