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Review
. 2024 Feb 13;19(1):22.
doi: 10.1186/s13014-024-02415-8.

Review of brachytherapy clinical trials: a cross-sectional analysis of ClinicalTrials.gov

David Chen  1   2 , Rod Parsa  1   3 , Kabir Chauhan  1 , Jelena Lukovic  1   3 , Kathy Han  1   3 , Amandeep Taggar  4   5 , Srinivas Raman  6   7   8
Affiliations
Review

Review of brachytherapy clinical trials: a cross-sectional analysis of ClinicalTrials.gov

David Chen et al. Radiat Oncol. .

Abstract

Introduction: Characterizing the landscape of clinical trials including brachytherapy can provide an overview of the current status and research trends which may guide further areas of investigation.

Method: We queried 449,849 clinical trials from the ClinicalTrials.gov registry using brachytherapy-related keywords from 1980 to 2023, yielding 245 multi-arm and 201 single-arm, brachytherapy trials. Multi-arm and single-arm brachytherapy trials were compared using 12 trial protocol elements.

Results: The number of trials including brachytherapy has increased over time, with over 60% of trials registered in 2010 onwards. The majority of clinical trials were Phase 2 or 3, evaluated both safety and efficacy, and were funded by academic sponsors. The most common tumor sites evaluated in brachytherapy clinical trials include prostate, cervix, liver, endometrium, and breast.

Conclusion: There remains continued interest in clinical trials including brachytherapy focused on evaluation of novel delivery systems, treatment planning, and new indications. More brachytherapy clinical trials are needed to define the optimal clinical utilization and advance prospective research in this field.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Search and filtering strategy used to select trials including brachytherapy from the ClinicalTrials.gov registry
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Number of multi-arm and single-arm trials including brachytherapy from January 1980 to April 2023
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Proportion of all brachytherapy trials by A type of brachytherapy, B primary anatomical site, and C trial phase
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Proportion of all brachytherapy trials by A financial sponsor and B geographical location
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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