Applying complexity theory to model the operation of clinical trials in human communities

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Machteld van den Berg ◽  
Bernhards Ogutu ◽  
Nelson K Sewankambo ◽  
Sonja Merten ◽  
Nikola Biller-Andorno ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Complexity Theory ◽  
Complex Adaptive Systems ◽  
Trial Design ◽  
Clinical Trial Design ◽  
Phase Iii ◽  
Open Communication ◽  
Vaccine Clinical Trial ◽  
Complex Adaptive

Abstract Background When a vaccine clinical trial enters a human community two independent systems merge into one system with various levels if interdependence. This system exhibits non-linearity and unpredictability, creating challenges for the research team. In this study we explore the researcher experience during clinical trials in human communities, through the lens of complexity theory. Methods We conducted in-depth interviews with a total of 11 researchers working on a phase III vaccine clinical trial in Kenya (Registry name: RTS,S ClinicalTrials.gov; Registry number: NCT00866619; Registry date: March 20, 2009). The interviews captured the researcher’s experience of working in a complex adaptive system and were analysed using thematic coding. Results Both human communities and clinical trials have the attributes characteristic of complex adaptive systems. Challenges researchers encountered working in this merged system include rumours, suspicion related to blood draws, and misconceptions. The researchers highlighted that a foundation of trust and open communication were foundational blocks to embrace the non-linearity of the system. Conclusions We have identified the key role that complexity theory plays in improving clinical trial design. The factors identified by our respondents, as seen through the lens of complexity theory, are integral to informing how clinical trial research can be tailored to the local social setting. Understanding the system (community and trial) as one allowed for the identification of patterns that influence the emergence of the system. This calls for clinical trial design to incorporate iterative practices to better equip research teams to adapt to the emerging behaviour of the system.

scholarly journals Review of Statistical Methods for Biomarker-Driven Clinical Trials

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Richard Simon
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Statistical Methods ◽  
Trial Design ◽  
Clinical Trial Design ◽  
Adaptive Methods ◽  
Phase Iii ◽  
Driver Mutations ◽  
New Methods ◽  
Targeted Treatments

The discovery of somatic driver mutations in kinases and receptors has stimulated the development of molecularly targeted treatments that require companion diagnostics and new approaches to clinical development. This article reviews some of the clinical trial designs that have been developed to address these opportunities, including phase II basket and platform trials as well as phase III enrichment and biomarker adaptive designs. It also re-examines some of the conventional wisdom that previously dominated clinical trial design and discusses development and internal validation of a predictive biomarker as a new paradigm for optimizing the intended-use subset for a treatment. Statistical methods now being used in adaptive biomarker-driven clinical trials are reviewed. Some previous paradigms for clinical trial design can limit the development of more effective methods on the basis of prospectively planned adaptive methods, but useful new methods have been developed for analysis of genome-wide data and for the design of adaptively enriched studies. In many cases, the heterogeneity of populations eligible for clinical trials as traditionally defined makes it unlikely that molecularly targeted treatments will be effective for a majority of the eligible patients. New methods for dealing with patient heterogeneity in therapeutic response should be used in the design of phase III clinical trials.

scholarly journals Conceptual Framework to Support Clinical Trial Optimization and End-to-End Enrollment Workflow

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neha M. Jain ◽  
Alison Culley ◽  
Teresa Knoop ◽  
Christine Micheel ◽  
Travis Osterman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Knowledge Representation ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Trial Design ◽  
Clinical Trial Design ◽  
Prospective Clinical Trial ◽  
Future Trends ◽  
Current State ◽  
Evaluation Strategies

In this work, we present a conceptual framework to support clinical trial optimization and enrollment workflows and review the current state, limitations, and future trends in this space. This framework includes knowledge representation of clinical trials, clinical trial optimization, clinical trial design, enrollment workflows for prospective clinical trial matching, waitlist management, and, finally, evaluation strategies for assessing improvement.

scholarly journals Edaravone in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis’Lessons from the Clinical Development Program and the Importance of a Strategic Clinical Trial Design

US Neurology ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Said R Beydoun ◽  
Jeffrey Rosenfeld
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis ◽  
Trial Design ◽  
Development Program ◽  
Clinical Trial Design ◽  
Clinical Development ◽  
Disease Heterogeneity ◽  
Clinical Development Program ◽  
Lateral Sclerosis

Edaravone significantly slows progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and is the first therapy to receive approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the disease in 22 years. Approval of edaravone has marked a new chapter in pharmaceutical development since the key trial included a novel strategic clinical design involving cohort enrichment. In addition, approval was based on clinical trials that had a relatively small patient number and were performed outside of the US. Edaravone was developed through a series of clinical trials in Japan where it was determined that a well-defined subgroup of patients was required to reveal a treatment effect within the study period. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is associated with wide-ranging disease heterogeneity (both within the spectrum of ALS phenotypes as well as in the rate of progression). The patient cohort enrichment strategy aimed to address this heterogeneity and should now be considered as a viable, and perhaps preferred, trial design for future studies. Future research incorporating relevant biomarkers may help to better elucidate edaravone’s mechanism of action, pharmacodynamics, and subsequently ALS phenotypes that may preferentially benefit from treatment. In this review, we discuss the edaravone clinical development program, outline the strategic clinical trial design, and highlight important lessons for future trials.

Clinical Trial Design and Statistics

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Ann Sosa
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Trial Design ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Drug Application ◽  
Clinical Trial Design ◽  
Double Blind Study ◽  
Type I ◽  
End Points

A clinical trial is a planned experiment designed to prospectively measure the efficacy or effectiveness of an intervention by comparing outcomes in a group of subjects treated with the test intervention with those observed in one or more comparable group(s) of subjects receiving another intervention.  Historically, the gold standard for a clinical trial has been a prospective, randomized, double-blind study, but it is sometimes impractical or unethical to conduct such in clinical medicine and surgery. Conventional outcomes have traditionally been clinical end points; with the rise of new technologies, however, they are increasingly being supplemented and/or replaced by surrogate end points, such as serum biomarkers. Because patients are involved, safety considerations and ethical principles must be incorporated into all phases of clinical trial design, conduct, data analysis, and presentation. This review covers the history of clinical trials, clinical trial phases, ethical issues, implementing the study, basic biostatistics for data analysis, and other resources. Figures show drug development and clinical trial process, and type I and II error. Tables list Food and Drug Administration new drug application types, and types of missing data in clinical trials. This review contains 2 highly rendered figures, 2 tables, and 38 references

A novel, hybrid, single- and multi-site clinical trial design for CLN3 disease, an ultra-rare lysosomal storage disorder

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 555-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather R Adams ◽  
Sara Defendorf ◽  
Amy Vierhile ◽  
Jonathan W Mink ◽  
Frederick J Marshall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Rare Diseases ◽  
Trial Design ◽  
Neurodegenerative Disorder ◽  
Clinical Trial Design ◽  
Trial Participation ◽  
Local Participation ◽  
Cln3 Disease ◽  
Study Participants

Background Travel burden often substantially limits the ability of individuals to participate in clinical trials. Wide geographic dispersion of individuals with rare diseases poses an additional key challenge in the conduct of clinical trials for rare diseases. Novel technologies and methods can improve access to research by connecting participants in their homes and local communities to a distant research site. For clinical trials, however, understanding of factors important for transition from traditional multi-center trial models to local participation models is limited. We sought to test a novel, hybrid, single- and multi-site clinical trial design in the context of a trial for Juvenile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis (CLN3 disease), a very rare pediatric neurodegenerative disorder. Methods We created a “hub and spoke” model for implementing a 22-week crossover clinical trial of mycophenolate compared with placebo, with two 8-week study arms. A single central site, the “hub,” conducted screening, consent, drug dispensing, and tolerability and efficacy assessments. Each participant identified a clinician to serve as a collaborating “spoke” site to perform local safety monitoring. Study participants traveled to the hub at the beginning and end of each study arm, and to their individual spoke site in the intervening weeks. Results A total of 18 spoke sites were established for 19 enrolled study participants. One potential participant was unable to identify a collaborating local site and was thus unable to participate. Study start-up required a median 6.7 months (interquartile range = 4.6–9.2 months). Only 33.3% (n = 6 of 18) of spoke site investigators had prior clinical trial experience, thus close collaboration with respect to study startup, training, and oversight was an important requirement. All but one participant completed all study visits; no study visits were missed due to travel requirements. Conclusions This study represents a step toward local trial participation for patients with rare diseases. Even in the context of close oversight, local participation models may be best suited for studies of compounds with well-understood side-effect profiles, for those with straightforward modes of administration, or for studies requiring extended follow-up periods.

Metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patterns of care: Implications for clinical trial design

2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (18_suppl) ◽  
pp. 4079-4079 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. S. Denlinger ◽  
M. A. Collins ◽  
Y. Wong ◽  
S. Litwin ◽  
N. J. Meropol
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Trial Design ◽  
Clinical Trial Design ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Comprehensive Cancer Center ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
Treatment Change ◽  
Therapy Regimen

4079 Background: New approaches have expanded options for patients (pts) with mCRC. To characterize current practice paradigms that might bear on clinical trial design, we analyzed decision-making and treatment patterns in pts treated at a Comprehensive Cancer Center since the introduction of cetuximab (CET), and bevacizumab (BV). Methods: A retrospective review of all pts diagnosed with mCRC between 3/1/04 and 8/28/06 treated at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Results: 160 pts were treated, with 157 pts receiving at least one therapy regimen by 10 attending oncologists. There were 350 changes in therapy with 246 (70%) including continuation of at least one prior drug (92 BV, 111 fluoropyrimidines, 43 other). The most common reasons for treatment change were toxicity (33%), progressive disease (PD) (29%), treatment breaks (15%), and metastasectomy (11%) ( Table ). PD was a more common cause for treatment discontinuation in later phases of treatment (18% initial regimen vs. 36% subsequent regimens, p=0.0002). 24% of pts treated with oxaliplatin (OX) discontinued due to neuropathy. Hypersensitivity caused discontinuation in 5% of pts with OX and 7% of pts with CET. Resection of metastases was undertaken in 38% of pts. 43% of these pts received neoadjuvant therapy, and 56% received adjuvant therapy. 30% of pts have died, 29% remain on active treatment, 28% are on a treatment break, 3% are on hospice, and 11% are lost to follow-up. Conclusions: PD is no longer the primary reason for change of therapy in pts with mCRC. Metastasectomy is common and OX neuropathy is often treatment-limiting. These findings have important implications for endpoint selection and design of clinical trials in mCRC. Future clinical trials in mCRC must recognize treatment complexities and capture key components of decision-making that may result in prolonged survival. Furthermore, treatment breaks represent a potential window for the evaluation of new drugs. [Table: see text] No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Novel definition of BCG failure to enhance recruitment into clinical trials.

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (6_suppl) ◽  
pp. 246-246
Author(s):  
Daniel Levi Willis ◽  
Eugene K. Lee ◽  
Rian J. Dickstein ◽  
Roosevelt Anderson ◽  
Shanna M. Pretzsch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trial ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Trial Design ◽  
Clinical Trial Design ◽  
Prospective Clinical Trial ◽  
Fish Analysis ◽  
Free Survival ◽  
Bcg Therapy ◽  
Bcg Failure ◽  
Definition Of

246 Background: Designing clinical trials after BCG failure can be problematic without a reasonable control arm. Thus, there is a need for early identification of BCG failure relevant to clinical trial design which allows one arm to continue on BCG. Here we present a definition of BCG failure based on FISH profile at 6th week of induction BCG that would facilitate such trials. Methods: The definition presented is based on findings from our IRB-approved, prospective clinical trial where Urovysion FISH assays were performed serially during the normal course of BCG therapy (SWOG protocol) at various time points (pre-BCG, 6 weeks, 3 and 6 mo.). Herein we incorporated the FISH analysis at 6 weeks in patients with a negative 3 month cystoscopy and correlated the result with recurrence and progression rates at 24 months. A novel definition of BCG failure was proposed by focusing the analysis on 84 patients with high grade disease (cTa: 33, cT1: 44, cTis 7). The 6 week FISH was selected as this would allow the control arm to proceed with BCG maintenance in a timely fashion, taking into account the time required for obtaining FISH results, registration of patients, and randomization. Results: Of the 36 patients with a positive FISH at 6 weeks (and no tumor at 3 months), 17 recurred (PPV = 47%) and 11 progressed (PPV = 31%), while among those with a negative FISH, 5 recurred (NPV = 90%) and 4 progressed (NPV = 92%) (p<0.001). Kaplan Meier estimates of recurrence free survival with a positive 6 week FISH were 67% and 52%, and for progression free survival were 75% and 52%, at 1 and 2 years respectively. Therefore, if patients with a positive 6 week FISH (and negative 3 month cystoscopy) were considered as "molecular" BCG failures, a prospective clinical trial with 101 patients in the control (i.e. BCG maintenance) and experimental arms to detect a 20% difference in recurrence rates (α=0.05) with 80% power. Conclusions: Using the FISH status of patients at the 6 week interval on BCG therapy would allow a clinical trial design that incorporates one arm with continued BCG therapy, while enriching for events of interest, namely recurrence and progression. This would allow meaningful comparisons while negating any ethical concerns regarding a lack of “standard treatment” in BCG failure studies.

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