Ensuring Success in Early Phase Oncology Clinical Trials | Page 7

Electronic data capture can facilitate quality control of data and dissemination
of data to the sponsor, investigators, and safety boards; monitoring for protocol
compliance; and recognizing trends in toxicity. Having a sophisticated
technology platform can be used for quickly updating, obtaining, and reacting to
information so individual parties can communicate and interact with each other
without complicated exchanges of data.
Being able to assess reliability of data is a significant advantage of electronic
data capture. Data can either be monitored manually, or comparison functions
can be automatically programmed to check, for example, whether data fits with
inclusion/exclusion criteria specified in the protocol. Having access to data
provides an immediate chance to correct or clarify uncertain data points.

Summary
Advances in biotechnology will continue to expand the potential for new
therapeutics in oncology. Translating in vitro data into an approved clinical
regimen will continue to be challenging, especially as targeted therapies add
complexity to designing studies and assessing effectiveness. However, several
strategies, including developing a solid study design, choosing the right study
team, and using technology, can help streamline the conduct of trials and
improve quality of data.