The Future of Clinical Trial Design Is Here in the Lung-MAP Clinical Trials

We recently caught up with James Moon, a biostatistician at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Moon works on the Lung-MAP clinical trial, or the Lung Cancer Master Protocol, which uses an innovative trial design meant to improve drug development.

Lung-MAP seeks to match the biomarkers of individual patients' lung cancer tumors with specific medicines in hopes that a more tailored approach will create more benefit. The trial is an example of the emerging field of "precision medicine"  that takes the individual patient's unique genetic makeup into account.

The Lung-MAP "master protocol" refers to the single protocol (trial) to test four drugs at once rather than the traditional method of testing four drugs in four trials. There is growing interest in such trial designs, also known as "platform trials," as a way of accelerating drug development.

The Lung-MAP clinical trial uses Medidata's Rave for electronic data capture (EDC).

What do you think the next step will be in the ongoing evolution of clinical trial design?