Data Monitoring Committees in Clinical Trials

­The authoritative guide for Data Monitoring Committees—fully revised and updated The number of clinical trials sponsored by government agencies and pharmaceutical companies has grown in recent years, prompting an increased need for interim monitoring of data on safety and efficacy. Data Monitoring Committees (DMCs) are an essential component of many clinical trials, safeguarding trial participants and protecting the credibility and validity of the study. Data Monitoring Committees in Clinical Trials: A Practical Perspective, 2nd Edition offers practical advice for those managing and conducting clinical trials and serving on Data Monitoring Committees, providing a practical overview of the establishment, purpose, and responsibilities of these committees. Examination of topics such as the composition and independence of DMCs, statistical, philosophical and ethical considerations, and determining when a DMC is needed, presents readers with a comprehensive foundational knowledge of clinical trial oversight. Providing recent examples to illustrate DMC principles, this fully-updated guide reflects current developments and practices in clinical trial oversight and offers expanded coverage of emerging issues and challenges in the field. This new second edition covers the most current information on DMC policies, issues in monitoring trials using new designs, and recent trial publications relevant to DMC decision-making. • Presents practical advice for those managing and conducting clinical trials and serving on Data Monitoring Committees • Illustrates the types of challenging issues Data Monitoring Committees face in practical situations • Provides updated and expanded coverage of topics including regulatory and funding agency guidelines and trial designs and their associated demands and limitations • Includes a new chapter addressing legal issues that affect DMC members and discusses general litigation concerns relevant to clinical research • Expands treatment of current journal publications addressing DMC issues Data Monitoring Committees in Clinical Trials: A Practical Perspective, 2nd Edition is a must-have text for anyone engaged in DMC activities as well as trial sponsors, clinical trial researchers, regulatory and bioethics professionals, and those associated with clinical trials in academic, government and industry settings.

A valuable new edition of the trusted, practical guide to managing data in clinical trials Regardless of size, type, or complexity, accurate results for any clinical trial are ultimately determined by the quality of the collected data. Management of Data in Clinical Trials, Second Edition explores data management and trial organization as the keys to developing an accurate and reliable clinical trial. With a focus on the traditional aspects of data collection as well as recent advances in technology, this new edition provides a complete and accessible guide to the management structure of a clinical trial, from planning and development to design and analysis. Practical approaches that result in the collection of complete and timely data are also provided. While maintaining a comprehensive overview of the knowledge and tools that are essential for the organization of a modern clinical trial, the author has expanded the topical coverage in the Second Edition to reflect the possible uses of recent advances in technology in the data collection process. In addition, the Second Edition discusses the impact of international regulations governing the conduct of clinical trials and provides guidelines on ensuring compliance with national requirements. Newly featured topics include: The growing availability of «off-the-shelf» solutions for clinical trials Potential models for collaboration in the conduct of clinical trials between academia and the pharmaceutical industry The increasing use of the Internet in the collection of data and management of trials Regulatory requirements worldwide and compliance with the ICH Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Guidelines Development of Standard Operating Procedures for the conduct of clinical trials Complete with chapter summaries that reinforce key points as well as over one hundred examples, Management of Data in Clinical Trials, Second Edition is an ideal resource for practitioners in the clinical research community who are involved in the development of clinical trials, including data managers, research associates, data coordinators, physicians, and statisticians. This book also serves as an excellent supplemental text for courses in clinical trials at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

This book provides practical guidance for statisticians, clinicians, and researchers involved in clinical trials in the biopharmaceutical industry, medical and public health organisations. Academics and students needing an introduction to handling missing data will also find this book invaluable. The authors describe how missing data can affect the outcome and credibility of a clinical trial, show by examples how a clinical team can work to prevent missing data, and present the reader with approaches to address missing data effectively. The book is illustrated throughout with realistic case studies and worked examples, and presents clear and concise guidelines to enable good planning for missing data. The authors show how to handle missing data in a way that is transparent and easy to understand for clinicians, regulators and patients. New developments are presented to improve the choice and implementation of primary and sensitivity analyses for missing data. Many SAS code examples are included – the reader is given a toolbox for implementing analyses under a variety of assumptions.

At last – a new edition of the highly acclaimed book Clinical Trials in Psychiatry This book provides a concise but thorough overview of clinical trials in psychiatry, invaluable to those seeking solutions to numerous problems relating to design, methodology and analysis of such trials. Practical examples and applications are used to ground theory whenever possible. The Second Edition includes new information regarding: Recent important psychiatric trials More specific discussion of psychiatry in the USA and the particular problems of trials in the USA, including comments about the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) An extended chapter on meta-analysis Further discussion of sub-group analysis Special features include appendices outlining how to design and report clinical trials, what websites and software programs are appropriate and an extensive reference section. From the reviews of the First Edition: “Everitt & Wessely are to be congratulated on producing an excellent guide to help overcome the snags in clinical trial research. Clearly written and in an engrossing style, the book is likely to become a classic textbook on clinical trials, and not just in psychiatry. The authors’ enthusiasm and grasp of clinical trial research make for a gripping and insightful read…it is one of the very best books that has been written on clinical trials.” THE BRITISH JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY "The experience of both authors in this area gives the book a very pragmatic approach grounded in reality, with theoretical overviews invariably being followed by practical examples and applications… an invaluable companion to anyone involved in, or contemplating undertaking, clinical trials research.” PSYCHOLOGICAL MEDICINE

A unique overview that melds the concepts of conditional probability and stochastic processes into real-life applications The role of randomization techniques in clinical trials has become increasingly important. This comprehensive guide combines both the applied aspects of randomization in clinical trials with a probabilistic treatment of properties of randomization. Taking an unabashedly non-Bayesian and nonparametric approach to inference, the book focuses on the linear rank test under a randomization model, with added discussion on likelihood-based inference as it relates to sufficiency and ancillarity. Developments in stochastic processes and applied probability are also given where appropriate. Intuition is stressed over mathematics, but not without a clear development of the latter in the context of the former. Providing a consolidated review of the field, the book includes relevant and practical discussions of: * The benefits of randomization in terms of reduction of bias * Randomization as a basis for inference * Covariate-adaptive and response-adaptive randomization * Current philosophies, controversies, and new developments With ample problem sets, theoretical exercises, and short computer simulations using SAS, Randomization in Clinical Trials: Theory and Practice is equally useful as a standard textbook in biostatistics graduate programs as well as a reliable reference for biostatisticians in practice.

Learn rigorous statistical methods to ensure valid clinical trials This Second Edition of the critically hailed Clinical Trials builds on the text's reputation as a straightforward and authoritative presentation of statistical methods for clinical trials. Readers are introduced to the fundamentals of design for various types of clinical trials and then skillfully guided through the complete process of planning the experiment, assembling a study cohort, assessing data, and reporting results. Throughout the process, the author alerts readers to problems that may arise during the course of the trial and provides commonsense solutions. The author bases the revisions and updates on his own classroom experience, as well as feedback from students, instructors, and medical and statistical professionals involved in clinical trials. The Second Edition greatly expands its coverage, ranging from statistical principles to controversial topics, including alternative medicine and ethics. At the same time, it offers more pragmatic advice for issues such as selecting outcomes, sample size, analysis, reporting, and handling allegations of misconduct. Readers familiar with the First Edition will discover completely new chapters, including: * Contexts for clinical trials * Statistical perspectives * Translational clinical trials * Dose-finding and dose-ranging designs Each chapter is accompanied by a summary to reinforce the key points. Revised discussion questions stimulate critical thinking and help readers understand how they can apply their newfound knowledge, and updated references are provided to direct readers to the most recent literature. This text distinguishes itself with its accessible and broad coverage of statistical design methods–the crucial building blocks of clinical trials and medical research. Readers learn to conduct clinical trials that produce valid qualitative results backed by rigorous statistical methods.

This comprehensive, unified text on the principles and practice of clinical trials presents a detailed account of how to conduct the trials. It describes the design, analysis, and interpretation of clinical trials in a non-technical manner and provides a general perspective on their historical development, current status, and future strategy. Features examples derived from the author's personal experience.

Presents elements of clinical trial methods that are essential in planning, designing, conducting, analyzing, and interpreting clinical trials with the goal of improving the evidence derived from these important studies This Third Edition builds on the text’s reputation as a straightforward, detailed, and authoritative presentation of quantitative methods for clinical trials. Readers will encounter the principles of design for various types of clinical trials, and are then skillfully guided through the complete process of planning the experiment, assembling a study cohort, assessing data, and reporting results. Throughout the process, the author alerts readers to problems that may arise during the course of the trial and provides common sense solutions. All stages of therapeutic development are discussed in detail, and the methods are not restricted to a single clinical application area. The authors bases current revisions and updates on his own experience, classroom instruction, and feedback from teachers and medical and statistical professionals involved in clinical trials. The Third Edition greatly expands its coverage, ranging from statistical principles to new and provocative topics, including alternative medicine and ethics, middle development, comparative studies, and adaptive designs. At the same time, it offers more pragmatic advice for issues such as selecting outcomes, sample size, analysis, reporting, and handling allegations of misconduct. Readers familiar with the First and Second Editions will discover revamped exercise sets; an updated and extensive reference section; new material on endpoints and the developmental pipeline, among others; and revisions of numerous sections. In addition, this book: • Features accessible and broad coverage of statistical design methods—the crucial building blocks of clinical trials and medical research – now complete with new chapters on overall development, middle development, comparative studies, and adaptive designs • Teaches readers to design clinical trials that produce valid qualitative results backed by rigorous statistical methods • Contains an introduction and summary in each chapter to reinforce key points • Includes discussion questions to stimulate critical thinking and help readers understand how they can apply their newfound knowledge • Provides extensive references to direct readers to the most recent literature, and there are numerous new or revised exercises throughout the book Clinical Trials: A Methodologic Perspective, Third Edition is a textbook accessible to advanced undergraduate students in the quantitative sciences, graduate students in public health and the life sciences, physicians training in clinical research methods, and biostatisticians and epidemiologists. Steven Piantadosi, MD, PhD, is the Phase One Foundation Distinguished Chair and Director of the Samuel Oschin Cancer Institute, and Professor of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. Dr. Piantadosi is one of the world’s leading experts in the design and analysis of clinical trials for cancer research. He has taught clinical trials methods extensively in formal courses and short venues. He has advised numerous academic programs and collaborations nationally regarding clinical trial design and conduct, and has served on external advisory boards for the National Institutes of Health and other prominent cancer programs and centers. The author of more than 260 peer-reviewed scientific articles, Dr. Piantadosi has published extensively on research results, clinical applications, and trial methodology. While his papers have contributed to many areas of oncology, he has also collaborated on diverse studies outside oncology including lung disease and degenerative neurological disease.

Randomi sed Clinical Trials: Design, Practice and Reporting  provides a detailed overview of the methodology for conducting clinical trials, including developing protocols, data capture, randomisation, analysis and reporting. Assuming no prior background, this user-friendly resource describes the statistical, regulatory, and practical components required for conducting randomised clinical trials. Numerous examples and case studies from industry, academia, and the research literature help readers understand each stage of the clinical trial process.  This second edition contains extensively revised material throughout, including new chapters covering designs for repeated measures, non-inferiority, cluster and stepped wedge trials. Other new chapters describe data and safety monitoring, biomarker studies, and feasibility studies. Updated and expanded sections discuss situations where multiple organs, different body locations or competing risks are involved, subgroup analysis, and multiple outcomes. Written by an author team with extensive experience in conducting clinical trials, this book:  Provides comprehensive coverage of randomised clinical trials, ranging from basic to advanced Features several new chapters, updated case studies and examples, and references to changes in regulations Explains basic randomised trials, including the parallel two-group controlled trial with a single outcome measure Covers paired trial designs and trials with more than two interventions Includes a chapter on miscellaneous topics such as adaptive designs, large simple trials, Bayesian methods for very small trials, alpha-spending functions and the predictive probability test  Randomi sed Clinical Trials  is essential reading for clinicians, nurses, data managers, and medical statisticians involved in clinical trials, and for health practitioners responsible for direct patient care in a clinical trial setting.

Cross-over trials are an important class of design used in the pharmaceutical industry and medical research, and their use continues to grow. Cross-over Trials in Clinical Research, Second Edition has been fully updated to include the latest methodology used in the design and analysis of cross-over trials. It includes more background material, greater coverage of important statistical techniques, including Bayesian methods, and discussion of analysis using a number of statistical software packages. * Comprehensive coverage of the design and analysis of cross-over trials. * Each technique is carefully explained and the mathematics is kept to a minimum. * Features many real and original examples, taken from the author's vast experience. * Includes discussion of analysis using SAS, S-Plus and, GenStat, StatXact and Excel. * Written in a style suitable for statisticians and physicians alike. * Computer programs to accompany the examples in the book can be downloaded from the Web Primarily aimed at statisticians and researchers working in the pharmaceutical industry, the book will also appeal to physicians involved in clinical research and students of medical statistics.