Glossary of Clinical Trial Terms

ADVERSE REACTION: (Adverse Event):

Also known as side effects, adverse

reactions include any undesired actions or effects of the experimental drug or treatment.

Experimental treatments must be evaluated for both immediate and long-term side

effects.

APPROVAL:

A drug, device or biologic must be approved by a country’s regulatory

agency before it can be marketed. The approval process involves several steps

including pre-clinical (animal) studies, clinical trials for safety and efficacy, filing of a New

Drug Application (NDA) in the United States or Marketing Authorization Application

(MAA) in Europe by the manufacturer, regulatory agency review of the application, and

agency approval/rejection of application.

ARM:

Any of the treatment groups in a clinical trial. Most randomized trials have two

“arms,” but some have three “arms,” or even more.

BASELINE:

Baseline information is gathered at the beginning of a study from which

variations found in the study are measured. Baseline can also be described as a known

value or quantity with which an unknown is compared when measured or assessed.

Safety and efficacy of a drug are often determined by monitoring changes from the

baseline values.

BIAS:

When a point of view prevents impartial

judgment on issues relating to the subject

of that point of view. In clinical studies, bias is controlled by blinding and randomization.

BLIND, BLINDED or BLINDING:

A clinical trial is “blinded” if the participants are

unaware on whether they are in the experiment

al or control arm of the study. Blinding

may also be extended to the investigators so that their patient observations are less

likely to be biased by their awareness of the treatment the patient is receiving.

CASE CONTROL STUDY:

A scientific study that compares a group of people with a

disease (such as leukemia) to a similar gr

oup of people without that disease. This type

of study compares the levels of exposure (for example, radiation or chemical) each

group had before appearance of the disease.

CLINICAL:

Pertaining to or founded on observation and treatment of human participants

or patients, as distinguished from theoretical or basic science.

CLINICAL INVESTIGATOR:

A medical researcher in charge of carrying out a clinical

trial's protocol.

CLINICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATE (CRA):

Person employed by the study sponsor or

clinical research coordinator to monitor a clinical trial at one or more participating sites.

The CRA is responsible for ensuring all clinical studies are conducted according to study

protocol, within regulations and ICH guidelines.

CLINICAL RESEARCH COORDINATOR (CRC):

Site administrator for the clinical trial

who is responsible for coordinate administrative activities between field and home offices

staff, such as the collection of essential documents, distribution of supplies and site

selection. Also called research, study or health care coordinator, data manager,

research nurse or protocol nurse.

CLINICAL TRIAL:

Clinical trials, also known as clinical studies, test potential treatments

in human volunteers or patients to see whether they should be further investigated or

approved for wider use in the general population. A treatment could be a drug, medical

device, or biologic, such as a vaccine, blood product, or gene therapy. Potential

treatments, however, must first be studied in laboratory models or animals to determine

its safety before they can be tried in people. Treatments having acceptable safety

profiles for the disease or condition and showing the most promise are then moved into

clinical trials. Clinical trials are an integral part of new product discovery and

development, and are required by all regulatory agencies (e.g., the Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) in the United States), before a new product can be brought to the

market.

COMMUNITY-BASED CLINICAL TRIAL (CBCT):

A clinical trial conducted primarily

through primary care physicians rather than researchers at academic facilities.

COMPASSIONATE USE:

A method of providing experimental therapeutics prior to final

regulatory agency approval for use in humans. This procedure is used with very sick

individuals who have no other treatment options. Often, case-by-case approval must be

obtained by the patient’s physician from the regulatory agency for “compassionate use”

of an experimental drug or therapy.

CONFIDENTIALITY REGARDING TRIAL PARTICIPANTS:

Refers to maintaining the

confidentiality of trial participants including their personal identity and all personal

medical information. The trial participants'

consent to the use of records for data

verification purposes must be obtained prior to the trial. The Informed Consent

Document will explain how personal health information and study data will be used in

accordance with pertinent data protection laws and regulations.

CONTRACT RESEARCH ORGANIZATION (CRO):

A commercial organization

contracted by a research and development organization to perform one or more

research-related functions.

CONTRAINDICATION:

A specific circumstance in whic

h the use of certain treatments

are not allowed usually because they could be harmful or fatal.

CONTROL GROUP:

A control is the standard by which experimental observations are

evaluated. In many clinical trials, one gr

oup of patients will be given an experimental

drug or treatment, while the control group is given either a standard treatment for the

illness or a placebo.

CONTROLLED TRIALS:

A control is a standard against which experimental

observations may be evaluated. In a controlled clinical trial, one group of participants is

given an experimental drug, while another group (i.e., the control group) is given either a

standard treatment for the disease or a placebo.

CROSSOVER TRIAL:

A clinical trial in which all participants receive both treatments,

but at different times. At a predetermined point in the study, one group is switched from

the experimental treatment to the control treatment (standard treatment), and the other

group is switched from the control to the experimental treatment.

DATA SAFETY MONITORING BOARD (DSMB):

A committee, independent of the

sponsor, composed of clinical research experts that reviews trial data while a clinical trial

is in progress to ensure that participants are not exposed to undue risk. A DSMB may

recommend that a trial be stopped if there are safety concerns or if the trial objectives

have been achieved and further continuing the study would not benefit the patients.

DATA SAFETY MONITORING PLAN (DSMP):

This plan is meant to assure that each

clinical trial has a system for appropriate oversight and monitoring of the conduct of the

trial. This oversight ensures the safety of the participants and the validity and integrity of

the data.

DECLARATION OF HELSINKI

: A series of guidelines adopted by the 18th World

Medical Assembly in Helsinki, Finland in 1964. The Declaration addresses ethical issues

for physicians conducting biomedical research involving humans. Recommendations

include the procedures required to ensure subject safety in clinical trials, including

informed consent and Ethics Committee reviews.

DEMOGRAPHIC DATA:

The characteristics of participant group or populations. This

could include data on race, age, sex and medical history, all of which can be relevant to

the clinical trial study findings.

DEVICE:

An instrument, apparatus, implement, machine, contrivance, implant, in vitro

reagent, or other similar or related article, including any component, part or accessory,

that is used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. A device does not achieve its

intended purpose through chemical action or metabolism in the body.

DIAGNOSTIC TRIALS:

Refers to trials that are conducted to find better tests or

procedures for diagnosing a particular disease or condition. Diagnostic trials usually

include people who have signs or symptoms of the disease or condition being studied.

DOSE-RANGING STUDY:

A clinical trial in which two or more doses of an agent (such

as a drug) are tested against each other to determine which dose works best and is least

harmful.

DOUBLE-BLIND STUDY:

A clinical trial design in which neither the participating

individuals nor the study staff knows which

participants are receiving the experimental

drug and which are receiving a placebo or another therapy). Double-blind trials are

thought to produce objective results, since the knowledge, expectations and biases of

the doctor and the participant about the experimental drug or treatment do not affect the

outcome.

DRUG-DRUG INTERACTION:

A modification of the effect of a drug when administered

with another drug. The effect may be an increase or a decrease in the action of either

substance, or it may be an adverse effect that is not normally associated with either

drug.

EFFECTIVENESS:

Whether a drug achieves its desired effect in the real world.

EFFICACY:

(Of a drug or treatment) the ability of a drug or treatment to produce a

beneficial result. A drug demonstrates efficacy if it is effective at the dose tested against