Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 9, 2025

A Clinical Trial Assessing the Safety, Efficacy, and Delivery of Olive-Oil-Based Three-Chamber Bags for Parenteral Nutrition
Published on: September 20, 2019
Futility stopping in clinical trials, optimality and practical considerations
Yen Chang1, Tianhao Song1, Jane Monaco1
1Department of Biostatistics, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Abstract:
Stopping for futility is a useful tool in a clinical trial. It is widely used in single-arm trials in oncology and in many two-arm trials. We review three stopping rules for futility. We give recommendations for the optimal timing of futility looks in two-stage trials in terms of the information fraction and the probability of stopping under the alternative hypothesis. We discuss futility stopping in trials with substantial uncertainty about the variability of the outcome and in crossover trials.
Related Concept Videos
Clinical Trials
There are four phases in a clinical trial. A phase one...
Clinical Trials: Overview
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast,...
Pharmaceutical Alternatives: Stability-Related Therapeutic Nonequivalence
Preclinical Development: Overview
Bioequivalence of Drugs: Drugs with Multiple Indications

