2012–2016 (n=446) | 2017–2021 (n=388) | |
Year of primary manuscript | ||
2012 | 94 (21.1) | – |
2013 | 96 (21.5) | – |
2014 | 87 (19.5) | – |
2015 | 95 (21.3) | – |
2016 | 74 (16.6) | – |
2017 | – | 101 (26.0) |
2018 | – | 76 (19.6) |
2019 | – | 67 (17.3) |
2020 | – | 66 (17.0) |
2021 | – | 78 (20.1) |
Primary manuscript journal | ||
Annals of Oncology | 61 (13.7) | 41 (10.6) |
British Journal of Cancer | 8 (1.8) | 8 (2.1) |
Cancer | 7 (1.6) | 3 (0.8) |
European Journal of Cancer | 22 (4.9) | 24 (6.2) |
JAMA | 7 (1.6) | 7 (1.8) |
JAMA Oncology | 1 (0.2) | 25 (6.4) |
Journal of Clinical Oncology | 139 (31.2) | 73 (18.8) |
Journal of the National Cancer Institute | 3 (0.7) | 4 (1.0) |
Lancet | 30 (6.7) | 36 (9.3) |
Lancet Oncology | 123 (27.6) | 97 (25.0) |
New England Journal of Medicine | 45 (10.1) | 70 (18.0) |
Journals’ impact factor | ||
Low (<15) | 101 (22.6%) | 61 (15.7%) |
Intermediate (15–30) | 251 (56.3%) | 53 (13.7%) |
High (>30) | 94 (21.1%) | 274 (70.6%) |
Study sponsor | ||
Industry-sponsored | 209 (46.9) | 226 (58.2) |
Academic | 237 (53.1) | 162 (41.8) |
Type of tumour | ||
Breast | 84 (18.8) | 88 (22.7) |
Lung | 83 (18.6) | 68 (17.5) |
GI | 109 (24.4) | 92 (23.7) |
GU | 55 (12.3) | 52 (13.4) |
Other | 115 (25.8) | 88 (22.7) |
Disease stage | ||
Localised | 124 (27.8) | 118 (30.4) |
Advanced/ metastatic | 322 (72.2) | 270 (69.6) |
Study design | ||
Superiority | 412 (92.4) | 355 (91.5) |
Non-inferiority | 34 (7.6) | 33 (8.5) |
Masking | ||
Open label | 308 (69.1) | 267 (68.8) |
Blinded | 138 (30.9) | 121 (31.2) |
Type of experimental therapy* | ||
Chemotherapy±other | 273 (61.2) | 203 (52.3) |
Targeted therapy±other | 210 (47.1) | 180 (46.4) |
Hormonal therapy±other | 43 (9.6) | 47 (12.1) |
Immunotherapy± other | 33 (7.4) | 86 (22.2) |
Other | 8 (1.8) | – |
*Categories are not mutually exclusive.
GI, gastrointestinal; GU, genitourinary.