Recommendations for cellular and molecular pathology input into clinical trials : a systematic review and meta-aggregation
Abstract
The SPIRIT (Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Interventional Trials) 2013 Statement was developed to provide guidance for inclusion of key methodological components in clinical trial protocols. However, these standards do not include guidance specific to pathology input in clinical trials. This systematic review aims to synthesise existing recommendations specific to pathology practice in clinical trials for implementation in trial protocol design. Articles were identified from database searches and deemed eligible for inclusion if they contained: (1) guidance and/or a checklist, which was (2) pathology‐related, with (3) content relevant to clinical trial protocols or could influence a clinical trial protocol design from a pathology perspective and (4) were published in 1996 or later. The quality of individual papers was assessed using the AGREE‐GRS (Appraisal of Guidelines for REsearch & Evaluation – Global Rating Scale) tool, and the confidence in cumulative evidence was evaluated using the GRADE‐CERQual (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation–Confidence in Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research) approach. Extracted recommendations were synthesised using the best fit framework method, which includes thematic analysis followed by a meta‐aggregative approach to synthesis within the framework. Of the 10 184 records screened and 199 full‐text articles reviewed, only 40 guidance resources met the eligibility criteria for inclusion. Recommendations extracted from 22 guidance documents were generalisable enough for data synthesis. Seven recommendation statements were synthesised as follows: (1) multidisciplinary collaboration in trial design with early involvement of pathologists, particularly with respect to the use of biospecimens and associated biomarker/analytical assays and in the evaluation of pathology‐related parameters; (2) funding and training for personnel undertaking trial work; (3) selection of an accredited laboratory with suitable facilities to undertake scheduled work; (4) quality assurance of pathology‐related parameters; (5) transparent reporting of pathology‐related parameters; (6) policies regarding informatics and tracking biospecimens across trial sites; and (7) informed consent for specimen collection and retention for future research.
Citation
Lim , S J , Gurusamy , K , O'Connor , D , Shaaban , A M , Brierley , D , Lewis , I , Harrison , D , Kendall , T J & Robinson , M 2021 , ' Recommendations for cellular and molecular pathology input into clinical trials : a systematic review and meta-aggregation ' , The Journal of Pathology: Clinical Research , vol. Early View . https://doi.org/10.1002/cjp2.199
Publication
The Journal of Pathology: Clinical Research
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
2056-4538Type
Journal item
Rights
Copyright © 2021 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology: Clinical Research published by The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland & John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Description
The work was supported by the National Cancer Research Institute Cellular Molecular Pathology Initiative (NCRI CM-Path), which is funded by a collaborative venture between 10 organisations: Bloodwise, Breast Cancer Now, Cancer Research UK, the Chief Scientist Office (Scotland), the Department of Health (England), Health and Care Research Wales (Welsh Government), Health and Social Care (N Ireland), the Medical Research Council, Prostate Cancer UK, and Tenovus Cancer Care.Collections
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