Problems of clinical trial design in pancreatic cancer identified by new report

Progress in pancreatic adenocarcinoma trials is sluggish, which is often attributed to low clinical trial recruitment and substandard design.

This results in an inadequate understanding of this notoriously difficult-to-treat disease and poor outcomes for patients, according to data and analytics company GlobalData.

Clinical trial accrual is poor in pancreatic cancer and there is a need to enrol patients faster to establish the benefit of experimental drugs within a shorter timeframe. In 2011, 4.6% of the total patient population with pancreatic cancer was enrolled in USA-based clinical trials. Set against the clinical trial accrual rate in oncology, which constitutes less than 3% of adult US patients, this rate indicates that comparatively more pancreatic cancer patients enrol in a trial than other cancers.