ArticlePloS one2017
Time to publication of oncology trials and why some trials are never published.
Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Second-event endpoints (EFS2, PRFS2 and PFS2) after anti-PD-(L)1-based RCTs: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2025Pooled it
- Time to publication for results of clinical trials.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Real-World Evidence: Better than Nothing or the Future? A Perspective on Clinical Evidence Generation in Interventional Oncology.Cardiovascular and interventional radiology · 2026Review
- Assessing the risks and benefits of investigational new drugs in adult phase-I oncology trials in China, 2013-2021.Investigational new drugs · 2025Review
- A Comprehensive Bibliometric Analysis of Biomedical Research Waste: Current Situation, Development, and Trends.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2025Article
- Strategic policy options to improve quality and productivity of biomedical research.Politics and the life sciences : the journal of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences · 2025Article
- Publication of Results of Registered Trials With Published Study Protocols, 2011-2022.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- The Current Landscape of COPD-Related Clinical Trials Registered on the World Health Organization's International Clinical Trials Registry Platform: A Comprehensive Analysis of Study Characteristics and Publication Status.Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (Miami, Fla.) · 2023Article
- Scope and financial impact of unpublished data and unused samples among U.S. academic and government researchers.iScience · 2023Article
- Article
- Predicting Publication of Clinical Trials Using Structured and Unstructured Data: Model Development and Validation Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Article
- Time to Publication of Clinical Trials Funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.Annals of neurology · 2021Article
- Detecting the Dark Matter of Unpublished Clinical Cancer Studies: An Analysis of Phase 3 Randomized Controlled Trials.Mayo Clinic proceedings · 2021Review
- A multi-state model analysis of the time from ethical approval to publication of clinical research studies.PloS one · 2020Article
- Publish or Perish v2.The oncologist · 2019Article
- Of mice and men: lost in translation.Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology · 2019Article
- Clinical Trial Design and Drug Approval in Oncology: A Primer for the Advanced Practitioner in Oncology.Journal of the advanced practitioner in oncologyArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundVery little is known about the proportion of oncology trials that get published, the time it takes to publish them, or the reasons why oncology trials do not get published.
methodsWe analyzed all clinical trials that closed to accrual at our cancer center between 2009-2013. Trials were categorized by study purpose (therapeutic vs. diagnostic), phase (pilot, phase I, II, or III), and sponsor (industrial, cooperative group, institutional, or peer-reviewed). Final publications were identified in MEDLINE and EMBASE by NCT numbers, or by querying the principal investigator. For trials not published, we surveyed the principal investigators to identify the reason for non-publication.
findings469 of 809 protocols (58%) had been published by November 2016. The calculated probability of publication 7 years after completing accrual was 70.4%; the calculated median time to publication was 47 months. Only 18.8% of protocols overall were estimated to be published within 2 years from completing accrual. The calculated probability of publication was higher for therapeutic trials than non-therapeutic trials, but there was no difference based on phase or sponsor. Among protocols not published, 45.3% had completed accrual, and among these, a majority had a manuscript in preparation or review, or the trial was still collecting data. Failure to publish due to a pharmaceutical sponsor was rare. 30.6% of unpublished trials had closed for various reasons before completing accrual, usually due to poor accrual or pharmaceutical sponsor issues.
interpretationAlmost 30% of trials were calculated to be unpublished by 7 years after closing to accrual at our institution. Failure to reach accrual goals was an important factor in non-publication. We have devised new institutional policies that identify trials likely not to meet accrual goals and require early closure. We should be able to shorten the time from accrual completion to publication, especially for pilot and phase I trials for which long follow up is not needed.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.