The scientific impact and value of large, NCI-sponsored randomized phase III cancer prevention trials.

Abstract

1541 Background: The cooperative cancer research groups of the National Cancer Institute’s National Clinical Trials Network have a history of successful conduct of large randomized phase III trials of prevention for cancer. An important question for funding agencies is whether the conduct of large prevention trials provides strong scientific return on investment. Methods: We used study data from a single NCI-sponsored cooperative group (SWOG) over a 20-year period (1990-2009, inclusive). During this time, SWOG conducted two large prevention trials (the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial and the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial) and numerous treatment trials. Scientific impact for prevention and treatment trials was examined using citation analysis. Average annual citation counts were compared using t-tests. Scientific impact was also assessed as a function of trial costs. Results: Twenty-six treatment trials with 16,391 patients and two prevention trials with 54,415 patients were examined. The mean annual citation rate for primary articles was higher for prevention trials compared to treatment trials (173.6 vs. 41.7, p = .003). For both primary and secondary article publications, mean annual citations for articles associated with prevention trials were also higher (557.2 vs. 67.6, p < .0001). Large prevention trials were estimated to provide 70% greater scientific impact on a cost-adjusted basis. Conclusions: Based on these criteria, the scientific impact of large phase III cancer prevention trials was very high in absolute terms and after accounting for trial costs. For appropriate scientific questions, large prevention trials provide a strong scientific return on investment for federal funding agencies.