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Summary: Questions to Ask About a Cancer Study
In summary, the following questions may help as you look through various cancer studies, looking for the most medically definitive findings:
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Question
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Look For
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- Was the study a clinical trial? In other words, was the study experimental (there was an intervention that people were asked to take or do) and prospective (investigators followed study participants forward in time)?
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A study that is both
experimental and prospective
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- What phase was the trial -- phase I, phase II or phase III?
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A phase III study
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- Did the clinical trial have a control group? That is, did one group of participants receive the experimental intervention while another did not?
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A controlled study
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- Were participants randomly assigned to either the investigational group or the control group?
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A randomized study
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- How many participants were enrolled in the study?
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A study that is large enough for the results to be statistically significant;
not due to chance
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