Central Nervous System Tumor — Medical and Surgical Management of Patients With Brain Metastases
Citation(s)
Davis FG, Dolecek TA, McCarthy BJ, Villano JL Toward determining the lifetime occurrence of metastatic brain tumors estimated from 2007 United States cancer incidence data. Neuro Oncol. 2012 Sep;14(9):1171-7. doi: 10.1093/neuonc/nos152. Epub 2012 Aug 16.
Smedby KE, Brandt L, Bäcklund ML, Blomqvist P Brain metastases admissions in Sweden between 1987 and 2006. Br J Cancer. 2009 Dec 1;101(11):1919-24. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6605373. Epub 2009 Oct 13.
"In Population" Study of Medical and Surgical Management of Patients With Brain Metastases
Interventional studies are often prospective and are specifically tailored to evaluate direct impacts of treatment or preventive measures on disease.
Observational studies are often retrospective and are used to assess potential causation in exposure-outcome relationships and therefore influence preventive methods.
Expanded access is a means by which manufacturers make investigational new drugs available, under certain circumstances, to treat a patient(s) with a serious disease or condition who cannot participate in a controlled clinical trial.
Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.
Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.
