Reporting clinical trial information: colorectal cancer trials at Sydney Cancer Centre

Abstract

Clinical trial units are integral to the functioning of a medical oncology department with patient access to clinical trials an important component in patient care. There has been a paucity of potential key performance indicators in medical oncology and clinical trial information may be utilised for this purpose. The aim of this study was to record retrospectively and collate prospectively collected information regarding basic demographics, response rate, progression and survival plus grade 3 or 4 toxicity in patients enrolled in clinical trials for metastatic colorectal cancer at the Sydney Cancer Centre between 1999 and 2007. Baseline patient demographics, clinical response, progression dates, grade 3 or 4 toxicities plus treatment-related fatalities were collected from individual clinical trials. Outcome measures were clinical response, progression-free survival and overall survival. There was a total of 14 trials undertaken during the defined period for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. There was available information for 243 patient trials with sufficient information regarding response rates, toxicity, progression and survival. Tumour response rates ranged from 27% to 66% for first line chemotherapy trials and 0% to 20% for non-first line chemotherapy trials. The overall progression-free survival was 6.4 months and overall survival 14.0 months for all trials. There was one treatment-related fatality on clinical trial during this period. Results of our clinical database have been used here to illustrate the concept and value of reporting clinical trial information in medical oncology. Public reporting of such information may allow for comparisons between units and for quality improvement.