A call for change in anticancer drug evaluation

In the evaluation of anticancer agents, the present emphasis on the use of measurements determining the drug's capacity for cytoxicity and tumour shrinking prevents oncologists from defining efficacy measures which may be more relevant to clinical reality. In addition, oncologists are not yet making adequate or appropriate use of the advanced technologies available, and the use of standardised response criteria does not ensure that results are clinically meaningful. There is a strong need for flexibility in the choice of the endpoint to be measured according to the type of cancer. It is important that faster, smaller-scale trial designs must be developed so that promising, new anticancer agents are made available as quickly as possible. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.