Completion Rate and Positive Results Reporting Among Immunotherapy Trials in Breast Cancer, 2004-2023

Abstract

ImportanceClinical trials are the path to test and introduce new therapies in the clinic. Trials that are unable to produce results represent inefficiency in the system and may also undermine patient confidence in the new drug development process.ObjectivesTo survey the immunotherapy clinical trial landscape of breast cancer between January 2004 and April 2023 and examine what fraction of trials with primary completion date up to November 30, 2022, failed to report outcome, assessing the proportion of trials that yielded positive results and describing trial features associated with these 2 outcomes.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis cross-sectional study included breast cancer immunotherapy trials identified in ClinicalTrials.gov. Trial details and results were retrieved in December 2023. Google Scholar, PubMed, and LARVOL CLIN websites were also searched for reports.Main Outcomes and MeasuresTrial outcome reported as abstract or manuscript. Reported trials were categorized as positive (ie, met its end point) or negative. Association between reporting and trial features were tested using Fisher exact test.ResultsA total of 331 immuno-oncology trials were initiated in breast cancer by April 2023; 242 trials were phase II, 47 were phase I, and 42 phase III. By setting, 212 studies (64.0%) were conducted in metastatic, 94 (28.4%) in neoadjuvant, and 25 (7.6%) in adjuvant settings. Among phase II and III trials, 168 (59.2%) were nonrandomized. One hundred twenty trials had primary completion dates up to November 30, 2022, of which 30 (25.0%; enrolling a combined 2428 patients) failed to report their outcomes; 7 phase I trials (31.8%), 21 phase II trials (23.6%), and 2 phase III trials (22.2%) were unreported. Single-center studies were significantly more likely to be unreported than multicenter studies (19 of 54 [35.2%] vs 9 of 60 [15.0%]; P = .02). Of the 90 reported trials, 47 (52.2%) and 43 (47.8%) were positive and negative, respectively. Seventeen of 19 (89.5%) of the reported randomized trials (accruing a total of 4189 patients) were negative.Conclusions and RelevanceIn this cross-sectional study of immunotherapy breast cancer trials, the large number of trials yielded modest clinical impact. Single-center trials commonly failed to report their outcomes and many phase II studies have not translated into corresponding successful phase III trials.