Conducting clinical trials in supportive and palliative oncology: challenges and opportunities

High-quality research is essential to enhance the delivery and outcomes of supportive care for patients with cancer. In this review, we discuss key challenges and potential solutions for conducting supportive care clinical trials in oncology.

Structural barriers to supportive care research include limited infrastructure and investigators, insufficient funding, a paucity of foundational research, and a lack of standardized terminologies. Process barriers involve challenges in patient recruitment and retention, intervention design, control selection, and outcome assessments. Recognition of these barriers enables the development of targeted strategies to overcome them. Encouragingly, there is growing awareness of the importance of supportive care among investigators, clinicians, patients, and healthcare administrators, leading to an increase in research activity, funding, and publications. Research centers and professional organizations dedicated to supportive care are actively building capacity and fostering collaboration. Additionally, innovative study designs, personalized outcome measures, and multicenter research networks offer promising strategies to enhance both the quantity and quality of clinical trials.

Through interdisciplinary collaborations, we can continue to strengthen the infrastructure and refine the processes in supportive care trials. These efforts will help build a robust evidence base and ultimately improve outcomes for patients with cancer.