Table 2 Characteristics of all trials. Majority of trials treated patients with 3D conventional techniques, had a sample size of 200 or more, were not industry sponsored, were listed in clinicaltrials.gov, were RT focused, had non-overall survival as the primary efficacy endpoint and were published in Europe. There were more trials published in radiotherapy journals, published form 1996-2005, published in journals with impact factor of more then 15. Majority of trials were non-cooperative group trials, did not publish their trial protocol, did not publish their QA processes, and did not have biases in reporting of primary efficacy endpoints and toxicity
From: Quality of radiotherapy reporting in randomized controlled trials of prostate cancer
Characteristics | N | % |
|---|---|---|
RT Technique | ||
 2D | 1 | 2 |
 3D Conventional | 33 | 56 |
 IMRT only | 5 | 8 |
 Multiple techniques | 11 | 19 |
 Not specified | 9 | 15 |
Sample size | ||
  ≤ 200 | 16 | 27 |
  > 200 | 43 | 73 |
Sponsorship | ||
 Industry | 12 | 20 |
 Not industry | 33 | 56 |
 Not reported | 14 | 24 |
Listed in clinicaltrials.gov | ||
 Yes | 15 | 25 |
 No | 44 | 75 |
Types of RT trial | ||
 RT focused | 40 | 68 |
 Not RT focused | 19 | 32 |
Primary efficacy endpoint | ||
 Overall survival | 8 | 14 |
 Non-overall survival | 42 | 86 |
Region | ||
 North America | 21 | 36 |
 Europe | 31 | 52 |
 Asia | 3 | 5 |
 Australia/New Zealand | 3 | 5 |
 International | 1 | 2 |
Radiotherapy Journal | ||
 Yes | 17 | 29 |
 No | 42 | 71 |
Year of publication | ||
 1996–2005 | 36 | 61 |
 2006–2016 | 23 | 39 |
Impact factor | ||
  ≤ 15 | 18 | 31 |
  > 15 | 41 | 69 |
Cooperative group | ||
 Yes | 23 | 39 |
 No | 36 | 61 |
Trial protocol available | ||
 Yes | 14 | 24 |
 No | 45 | 76 |
QA process published | ||
 Yes | 16 | 27 |
 No | 43 | 83 |
Bias in reporting primary efficacy endpoint | ||
 Yes | 4 | 7 |
 No | 44 | 75 |
 Not accessible | 11 | 18 |
Bias in reporting toxicity | ||
 Yes | 13 | 22 |
 No | 46 | 78 |