title: Surrogate outcomes in neurology, psychiatry, and psychopharmacology.
abstract: A surrogate outcome can be defined as an outcome that can be observed sooner, at lower cost, or less invasively than the true outcome, and that enables valid inferences about the effect of intervention on the true outcome. There is increasing interest in the use of surrogate outcomes of treatment efficacy measurement in investigational drug trials. However, the significance of surrogate markers of treatment outcome in neurology and psychiatry has not yet been sufficiently demonstrated. Few such markers have been adequately "validated, " that is, shown to predict the effect of the treatment on the clinical outcome of interest. In this article, evidence that would support the validation of such markers is discussed. Biomarkers used during early clinical development programs of new psychotropic compounds are considered in the contexts of Parkinson's disease, affective disorder, and schizophrenia. The particular case of neuroprotective trials is exemplified by Parkinson's disease, where a biomarker substituting for a clinical measure of progression could be considered as a surrogate treatment outcome.
authors.affiliation: Centre Hospitalier, Secteur VIII, Rouffach, France. luc.staner@ch-rouffach.fr
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Staner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy; D009462:Neurology / Q000639:trends*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000188:drug therapy; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000639:trends*; D011600:Psychopharmacology / Q000639:trends*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents