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© Oxford University Press 2006.
NEWS |
Criticism of Tumor Response Criteria Raises Trial Design Questions
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
When it debuted in 2000, the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) was intended to be a simpler way to measure the response of tumors to experimental treatments. (See article, Vol. 92, No. 3, p. 205.) The prior criteria, adopted by the World Health Organization in 1979, involved a complicated formula that required measuring two dimensions on a tumor and multiplying the parameters with a calculator, if not a computer. RECIST made the job easier by requiring measurements of just the longest dimension of several tumors and adding them together.
But, in the 5 years since the widespread adoption of RECIST, the measurement tool has drawn some criticism. Critics argue that the RECIST criteria are too narrow—they force researchers to say a drug works or does not work based solely on changes in tumor size. In addition, some researchers say the criteria aren't universally applicable to all cancer
Shrinking Interest in Tumor Shrinkage?
Controlling Comparisons
Progression-Free Survival