Acceptability of cancer chemoprevention trials: impact of the design.
BACKGROUND
Chemoprevention could significantly reduce cancer burden. Assessment of efficacy and risk/benefit balance is at best achieved through randomized clinical trials.


METHODS
At a periodic health examination center 1463 adults were asked to complete a questionnaire about their willingness to be involved in different kinds of preventive clinical trials.


RESULTS
Among the 851 respondents (58.2%), 228 (26.8%) agreed to participate in a hypothetical chemoprevention trial aimed at reducing the incidence of lung cancer and 116 (29.3%) of 396 women agreed to a breast cancer chemoprevention trial. Randomization would not restrain participation (acceptability rate: 87.7% for lung cancer and 93.0% for breast cancer). In these volunteers, short-term trials (1 year) reached a high level of acceptability: 71.5% and 73.7% for lung and breast cancer prevention respectively. In contrast long-term trials (5 years or more) were far less acceptable: 9.2% for lung cancer (OR=7.7 CI(95%) 4.4-14.0) and 10.5 % for breast cancer (OR=6.9 CI(95%) 3.2-15.8). For lung cancer prevention, the route of administration impacts on acceptability with higher rate 53.1% for a pill vs. 7.9% for a spray (OR=6.7 CI(95%) 3.6-12.9).


CONCLUSIONS
Overall healthy individuals are not keen to be involved in chemo-preventive trials, the design of which could however increase the acceptability rate.
Maisonneuve
Anne-Sophie
AS
Institut Paoli-Calmettes, Department of Oncogenetics Prevention and Screening Marseille France.
Huiart
Laetitia
L
Rabayrol
Laetitia
L
Horsman
Doug
D
Didelot
Remi
R
Sobol
Hagay
H
Eisinger
Francois
F