Conflicts of interest are common in research papers on cancer, and papers with conflicts are more likely to report positive results, say researchers at the University of Michigan (Cancer 2009 May 11, doi:10.1002/cncr.24315).

The study says that almost one in three of 1534 original papers in eight leading journals in 2006 had reported conflicts of interest, and 17% reported industry funding.

In studies where the authors reported a conflict of interest, 29% of the patients who had received the intervention had improved survival rates, and in studies whose authors had no reported conflict of interest that figure was only 14%.

Reshma Jagsi, an assistant professor of radiation oncology, and …