BMJ  2004;328 (19 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7454.0-b

Cancer trials satisfy the uncertainty principle

Enrolling patients into trials is ethical when there is uncertainty about which treatment is more appropriate for them—the "uncertainty principle." Reviewing 93 cancer trials and 103 randomisations from the United States, Joffe and colleagues (p 1463) found that, on average, the experimental treatment resulted in slightly better disease control than standard treatment did. The heterogeneity of results and the small average effect indicate that on average these trials followed the uncertainty principle.

Credit: ALIX/PHANIE/REX

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Relevant Article

Satisfaction of the uncertainty principle in cancer clinical trials: retrospective cohort analysis

Steven Joffe, David P Harrington, Stephen L George, Ezekiel J Emanuel, Lindsay A Budzinski, and Jane C Weeks
BMJ 2004 328: 1463. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]