Evidence map›Paper›PMID 21976533›Full record

ArticleClinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research2012

Achieving sufficient accrual to address the primary endpoint in phase III clinical trials from U.S. Cooperative Oncology Groups.

Anneke T Schroen, Gina R Petroni, Hongkun Wang, Monika J Thielen, Robert Gray, Jacqueline Benedetti, Xiaofei F Wang, Daniel J Sargent, Donald L Wickerham, Walter Cronin and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
44citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

44 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Trial
  3. Trial
  4. Trial
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Evaluating the impact of delayed study startup on accrual in cancer studies.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2025
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
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  11. Article
  12. Article
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  15. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Anneke T SchroenDepartment of Surgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA. ats2x@virginia.edu
Gina R Petroni
Hongkun Wang
Monika J Thielen
Robert Gray
Jacqueline Benedetti
Xiaofei F Wang
Daniel J Sargent
Donald L Wickerham
Walter Cronin
Benjamin Djulbegovic
Craig L Slingluff

Funding

NRG Oncology Network Group Operations Center - GY9 BIQSFP Reports/BudgetsU10CA180868 · NCI · NRG ONCOLOGY FOUNDATION, INC. · PI NORMAN WOLMARK · 2014 to 2026
$206.8M
PRIMARY CANCER THERAPY GROUP--NSABP (HEADQUARTERS)U10CA012027 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI WOLMARK, NORMAN · 1985 to 2012
$117.2M
NSABP Foreign AccrualsU10CA037377 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI WOLMARK, NORMAN · 1985 to 2014
$116.5M
TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCHU10CA025224 · NCI · MAYO CLINIC ROCHESTER · PI BUCKNER, JAN C · 1985 to 2013
$85.0M
Women's Oncology Program - WONP30CA044579 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CHARLOTTESVILLE · PI Thomas P. Loughran · 1987 to 2026
$72.1M
STUDY TO ASSESS RALOXIFENE FOR PREVENTING BREAST CANCERU10CA069974 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI COSTANTINO, JOSEPH P. · 1995 to 2013
$62.4M
PRIMARY BREAST CANCER THERAPY--BIOSTATISTICS CENTERU10CA069651 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI COSTANTINO, JOSEPH P. · 1995 to 2012
$52.1M
NSABP Biological Specimen BanksU24CA114732 · NCI · NSABP FOUNDATION, INC. · PI WOLMARK, NORMAN · 2005 to 2014
$9.4M
Oncology Clinical Trial Accrual StudyR01CA118232 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA · PI SCHROEN, ANNEKE T · 2007 to 2009
$861k
NCI NIH HHS P30 CA044579NCI NIH HHS R01 CA118232NCI NIH HHS U10 CA012027NCI NIH HHS U10 CA025224NCI NIH HHS U10 CA037377NCI NIH HHS U10 CA069651NCI NIH HHS U10 CA069974NCI NIH HHS U10CA-12027NCI NIH HHS U10 CA180868NCI NIH HHS U10CA-25224NCI NIH HHS U10CA-37377NCI NIH HHS U10CA-69651NCI NIH HHS U10CA-69974NCI NIH HHS U24 CA114732NCI NIH HHS U24-CA-114732
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeAssessing impact of poor accrual on premature trial closure requires a relevant metric. We propose defining accrual sufficiency on apparent ability to address primary endpoints (PE) rather than attaining accrual targets. EXPERIMENTAL

designAll phase III trials open January 1, 1993, to December 31, 2002, by five U.S. oncology Clinical Trials Cooperative Groups (CTCG) were evaluated for accrual sufficiency and scientific results. Sufficient accrual included meeting accrual target, CTCGs documentation attesting adequate accrual, or conclusive results at interim analysis; insufficient accrual included poor accrual as cited closure reason or other reasons rendering a trial unable to address its primary endpoints. Closure rates based on our accrual sufficiency definition are compared with rates of meeting accrual targets and addressing the primary endpoints. A percentage of target accrual above which trials commonly answer the intended scientific question was identified to serve as an alternative to meeting full target accrual in designating accrual success.

resultsOf 238 eligible trials, 158 (66%) closed with sufficient accrual. Among 80 trials with insufficient accrual, 70 (29%) closed specifically because of poor accrual. Inadequate accrual rates are overemphasized when defining accrual success solely by meeting accrual targets. Nearly 75% of trials conclusively addressed the primary endpoints with positive results in 39% of trials. Exceeding 80% of target accrual serves as a reliable proxy for answering the intended scientific question.

conclusionsApproximately one third of phase III trials closed with insufficient accrual to address the primary endpoints, primarily due to poor accrual. Defining accrual sufficiency broader than meeting accrual targets represents a fairer account of trial closures.

Indexed as

AchievementAdolescentBenchmarkingChildClinical Trials, Phase III as TopicHumansNeoplasmsPatient SelectionPrognosisResearch DesignUnited States

Identifiers

PMID21976533
PMCPMC3977198

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.