Impact of COVID-19 Outbreak through Telemedicine Implementation on Data Reporting During Oncology Clinical Trials

Cancer Invest. 2021 Jan;39(1):15-20. doi: 10.1080/07357907.2020.1858311. Epub 2020 Dec 10.

Abstract

Coronavirus disease outbreak has affected all aspect of clinical care including cancer clinical trials. To minimize exposure of frail cancer patients, an implementation of telemedicine was retained. The impact of this implementation on primary and secondary endpoints criteria of ongoing clinical trials was analyzed. Out of 128 oncology clinical trials, 25 (19%) had an implementation of teleconsultation. Poor data reporting induced mainly a bias on qualitative and descriptive primary endpoints than those assessing efficacy (80% vs 20%; p < 0.001). The integration of telemedicine and E-technologies in the medical practices and clinical trials must be designed and validated.

Keywords: COVID19; oncology clinical trials; primary endpoint; secondary endpoints; telemedicine.

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19 / epidemiology
  • COVID-19 / prevention & control*
  • COVID-19 / virology
  • Clinical Trials as Topic / methods*
  • Clinical Trials as Topic / standards
  • Clinical Trials as Topic / statistics & numerical data
  • Disease Outbreaks
  • Humans
  • Medical Oncology / methods*
  • Medical Oncology / standards
  • Medical Oncology / statistics & numerical data
  • Neoplasms / classification
  • Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Neoplasms / therapy*
  • Outcome Assessment, Health Care / methods
  • Outcome Assessment, Health Care / standards
  • Outcome Assessment, Health Care / statistics & numerical data
  • Research Report / standards
  • SARS-CoV-2 / isolation & purification*
  • SARS-CoV-2 / physiology
  • Telemedicine / methods*
  • Telemedicine / standards
  • Telemedicine / statistics & numerical data