Historical controls in randomized clinical trials: opportunities and challenges
Randomized control trials (RCTs) with placebo are the gold standard for determining efficacy of novel pharmaceutical treatments. Since their inception, over 75 years ago, researchers have amassed a large body of underutilized data on outcomes in the placebo control arms of these trials. Although rar...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
February 2021
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| In: |
Clinical pharmacology & therapeutics
Year: 2021, Volume: 109, Issue: 2, Pages: 343-351 |
| ISSN: | 1532-6535 |
| DOI: | 10.1002/cpt.1970 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1002/cpt.1970 Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cpt.1970 
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| Author Notes: | Kathryn T. Hall, Lene Vase, Deirdre K. Tobias, Hesam T. Dashti, Jan Vollert, Ted J. Kaptchuk and Nancy R. Cook |
| Summary: | Randomized control trials (RCTs) with placebo are the gold standard for determining efficacy of novel pharmaceutical treatments. Since their inception, over 75 years ago, researchers have amassed a large body of underutilized data on outcomes in the placebo control arms of these trials. Although rare disease indications have used these historical placebo data as synthetic controls to reduce burden on patients and accelerate drug discovery, broad use of historical controls is in its infancy. Large-scale historical placebo data could be leveraged to benefit both drug developers and patients if warehoused and made more available to guide trial design and analysis. Here, we examine challenges in utilizing historical controls related to heterogeneity in trial design, outcome ascertainment, patient characteristics, and unmeasured pharmacogenomic effects. We then discuss the advantages and disadvantages of current approaches and propose a path forward to broader use of historical controls in RCTs. |
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| Item Description: | Zuerst publiziert: 30. Juni 2020 Gesehen am 19.03.2026 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1532-6535 |
| DOI: | 10.1002/cpt.1970 |