A comparison of a new multinomial stopping rule with stopping rules of fleming and gehan in single arm phase II cancer clinical trials
2011

New Stopping Rule for Cancer Trials

publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Goffin John R, Pond Greg R, Tu Dongsheng

Primary Institution: McMaster University

Hypothesis

Can the Dual Endpoint Stopping Rule (DESR) improve sensitivity in phase II cancer trials compared to traditional methods?

Conclusion

The DESR may enhance trial sensitivity to active drugs while allowing for early stopping when drug activity is unlikely.

Supporting Evidence

  • The DESR was more likely to allow continuation to the second stage of accrual compared to Fleming rules.
  • The DESR rejected the null hypothesis more frequently when EPD rates were low.
  • The study found that the choice of EPD parameters significantly impacted trial outcomes.

Takeaway

This study looks at a new way to decide when to stop cancer trials early, which could help find effective drugs faster.

Methodology

The study compared the DESR with Fleming and Gehan stopping rules using data from phase II trials.

Limitations

The study used arbitrary EPD rates and lacked follow-up phase III studies to confirm findings.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1186/1471-2288-11-95

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