How important is consent for controlled clinical trials?
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The development of new drugs for cancer is extremely complex and expensive, and poses ethical problems. In this article we will review issues in clinical trials for cancer drugs that will cast new light on the doctor-patient relationship and their interaction with industry, the health service, academic and administrative organizations. We show that the Declaration of Helsinki cannot be applied to cancer trials as it is currently written, that patients do not and perhaps cannot give fully informed consent to participate, and that the results of clinical trials do not translate into daily practice in a way that patients might expect.
This paper discusses the potential harms involved in biobank research and how ethical review, informed consent, withdrawals, and anonymization of samples should be handled in the light of these harms. There is less risk involved in biobank research than in human subject research; it should therefore be treated differently. In our view, anonymization should not be an automatically permissible response to requests for withdrawal. Nor should a request for withdrawal necessarily stop research on identifiable samples. Apart from not being particularly appropriate for protecting the interests of individuals, anonymization of samples has a negative impact on research. We suggest that the current view on withdrawal from research, supported by the Declaration of Helsinki and subsequent ethical guidelines, be abandoned in the context of biobank research and be replaced by an approach inspired by the Nuremberg Code. This approach requires those wishing to withdraw their samples from research to present sufficient reason for doing so. Our interpretation of 'sufficient reason' includes all those involving genuine, deeply felt concerns that are not based on misconceptions. Still, this underlines the fact that we all share a responsibility for health research and that no one should take withdrawal from biobank research lightly.
Phase I/II trials of new cancer therapies are designed to determine safety, efficacy and the optimal regimen for treatment. In order to uphold the principle that 'the interests of the subject must prevail over the interests of science and society' as laid down in the Declaration of Helsinki the effects of these trials on quality of life must be determined. Antibody-targeted therapies are a new form of cancer therapy designed to selectively deliver cytotoxic agents to cancer cells. Twenty-four patients with advanced colorectal cancer were enrolled into trials of three different treatment modalities based on this theme. Quality of life was measured using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Rotterdam Symptom Checklist prior to and 4 weeks after treatment. The Common Toxicity Criteria of the NCI were used to assess treatment related toxicity. There was no significant difference between pre- and post-treatment scores for all three treatment modalities. There was also no significant correlations between toxicity and physical or psychological morbidity. We suggest that the quality of life of patients undergoing phase I/II clinical trials with antibody targeted therapies for metastatic colorectal carcinoma was not adversely affected. We feel that in part this can be attributed to the high level and the intensity of support provided for the patients undergoing these treatments.
The purpose of this report was to evaluate specific depressive symptoms that are most suitable for a therapy with the Ze 117 St. John's wort extract. We examined the antidepressant efficacy and drug safety of Ze 117 and fluoxetine in a multicentric prospective randomized double-blind parallel group comparison according to generally accepted guidelines such as the Declaration of Helsinki and GCP. We treated outpatients (n = 240; Ze 117: 126; fluoxetine: 114) with mild to moderate depressive episodes (ICD-10: F 32.0, F 32.1; HAMD range: 16-24) with either two tablets St John's wort (Ze 117; 500 mg extract/day) or fluoxetine (20 mg/day) for 6 weeks. Antidepressant efficacy was evaluated with the validated HAMD psychometric method. A validated analysis of HAMD subscores was made to verify the efficacy for certain depressive symptoms. The main results were: * The HAMD responder rate was 60% in the Ze 117 group compared to 40% in the fluoxetine group (p = 0.005). * Particularly, there was a marked decrease of depressive agitation (pre-post comparison: 46%) and anxiety symptoms (44%) during the therapy with St. John's wort. Depressive obstruction (44%) and sleep disorders (43%) were reduced during the treatment, too. There were no statistically significant differences between the treatment groups. * Adverse events occurred in 28 patients (25%) in the fluoxetine group and in 18 (14%) of the St. John's wort group (p < 0.07). St. John's wort extract is a clinically effective equivalent to fluoxetine regarding overall depressive symptoms and main symptoms of depressive episodes. An especially interesting overall observation is that Ze 117 is particularly effective in depressive patients suffering from anxiety symptoms. St. John's wort revealed better safety and tolerability data than fluoxetine.
For the approval of a new antidepressant for clinical use drug authorities still demand the proof of a significantly superior efficacy of the compound over placebo shown in controlled comparison studies. On the other side serious ethical concerns have been raised upon the use of placebos in clinical trials with depressed patients in that this would implicitly mean a withholding of an efficacious treatment from patients in the control groups of such trials. This article summarises frequently quoted arguments for and against placebo use in antidepressant clinical trials focussing on the specific issues involved in the therapeutic effect of antidepressants and placebos in depressed patients and discusses measures that might contribute to study designs that may better evaluate the true efficacy of a new drug while keeping the risk for the individual patient at the lowest possible level. A worldwide solution of the problem is clearly called for. A ban of placebos in antidepressant trials as it might be derived from the Declaration of Helsinki should be postponed until antidepressants with a more convincing superiority over placebo have been developed.
The freedom of research is guaranteed in Art. 5 sub. 3 of the German Basic Law (GG) as against intrusion by the state. Sec.s 40 AMG contain requirements for the clinical trials for pharmaceutical products which range from medical admissibility to informed consent all the way to a positive evaluation by an ethics committee. From there a route to analogy for other medical research is called for, because health and well-being of a person should be promoted even outside the area of pharmaceutical products. The international instrument of the Revised Declaration of Helsinki by the World Medical Association also requires an adequate risk and the information of the patient. Even medical research concerning the mentally ill is admissible when it is directed at the illness itself. In this case the informed consent of the guardian is normally sufficient.
This article was written to give researchers and clinicians a short synopsis of ethical and thorough design, conduct, analysis, publication, and interpretation of randomised controlled clinical trials according to the European quality standards of Good Clinical Practice (GCP). The paper consists of two parts. In the first part we introduce important elements of study design, especially study hypothesis, criteria of inclusion and study population, sample size calculation, validity considerations, bias and confounding, randomisation, stratification, and masking of treatment assignment. Different treatment allocation like multiple parallel groups, factorial experiment, cross-over, and sequential design are presented. Requirements of ethical standards according to the Declaration of Helsinki are discussed for their necessity in any experimentation in humans. Principles of informed consent are demonstrated with emphasis on special conditions in anaesthesia, emergency medicine, and intensive care research. In the second part of this article we explain issues of baseline assessment, experimental intervention, data recording, and data monitoring, particularly of negative or hazardous treatment effects. Topics of data analysis and reporting of trial results in publications are illustrated with regard to their influence on subsequent interpretation.
This article was written to give researchers and clinicians a short synopsis of ethical and thorough design, conduct, analysis, publication, and interpretation of randomised controlled clinical trials according to the European quality standards of Good Clinical Practice (GCP). The paper consists of two parts. In the first part we introduce important elements of study design, especially study hypothesis, criteria of inclusion and study population, sample size calculation, validity considerations, bias and confounding, randomisation, stratification, and masking of treatment assignment. Different treatment allocation like multiple parallel groups, factorial experiment, cross-over, and sequential design are presented. Requirements of ethical standards according to the Declaration of Helsinki are discussed for their necessity in any experimentation in humans. Principles of informed consent are demonstrated with emphasis on special conditions in anaesthesia, emergency medicine, and intensive care research. In the second part of this article we explain issues of baseline assessment, experimental intervention, data recording, and data monitoring, particularly of negative or hazardous treatment effects. Topics of data analysis and reporting of trial results in publications are illustrated with regard to their influence on subsequent interpretation.
Guidelines to establish the principles for the standard of Good Clinical Practice (GCP) for trials on medicinal products in human beings were coming into operation in the European Community in 1991. These recommendations are more extensive than those of the German drug regulatory act (AMG). Included are outlines for the protection of the patient, the responsibilities of the investigator, for biometrics and the quality assurance. Although most of the studies in pediatric oncology optimizing treatment schedules do not belong to the studies as defined by the AMG, certain rules and regulations are strictly adhered to, e.g. the Declaration of Helsinki for the protection of human rights, medical justification of involved risks, adequate and freely obtained informed consent of the patient and the parents. Furthermore, the approval of Ethics Committees must be requested.
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