Scant participation in clinical trials hampering research: PGIMER docs

Due to lack of awareness, parents of patients desist from giving consent for trials

Scant participation in clinical trials by patients undergoing treatment hampers research in the field of childhood cancer, say researchers at Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh.

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Doctors at the institute were addressing the press on occasion of completion of 25 years of a dedicated unit for Paediatric Hematology-Oncology patients. They said due to lack of awareness, parents of patients desist from giving consent for trials, which are important for discovering new treatments for diseases, as well as new ways to detect, diagnose and reduce the chance of developing the disease.

Dr Scott Howard, secretary international society of paediatric oncology, who is attending a continuation medical education programme which begins from Feb 1, said that in the Western model, an average of 8 clinical trials are conducted on a single patient, which in turn benefits patients. “80 percent of the children (patients) undergo clinical trials, while the number in India is fewer,” he said.

Professor Deepak Bansal of PGIMER’s paediatric centre said patients here thought that experimentation would harm their children. “Parents mostly think that clinical trials make their children into guinea pigs, but at the same time, they want to rely on advancement made through resources. This attitude should change,” said Professor Bansal.

Similarly, Dr Amita Tehran said clinical trials are just a method to calculate the better way of treating the patient.

“Suppose we have two medicines to treat a medical condition, we will divide patients and put them on two different treatment courses and later understand what difference it made with respect to side effects and other important things,” she said.

The importance of clinical trials lies in the fact that it ensures up-to-date treatment and also a detailed approach towards the disease.

The paediatric hematology-oncology unit at PGIMER has been treating children with childhood cancer and hematological conditions for the last 30 years. Approximately 75% of the patients with leukemia are survivors and close to 80% patients with lymphomas and kidney tumours are survivors. The unit receives around 450 patients a year.

That current research is centered around ensuring that side effects of treatments are minimal so there are no morbidities following childhood cancer in adult life.