Quality assurance in multi-modality oesophago-gastric cancer clinical trials: past, present and future perspectives

Helbrow, Jonathan, Booth, Mary, Vadhwana, Bhamini, Adams, Richard, Foley, Kieran, Peters, Christopher J., Petty, Russell and Gwynne, Sarah 2026. Quality assurance in multi-modality oesophago-gastric cancer clinical trials: past, present and future perspectives. Clinical Oncology 49 , 103971. 10.1016/j.clon.2025.103971

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Abstract

Clinical trials must ensure the quality of both standard and interventional treatments to rigorously evaluate potential benefits, avoid adverse outcomes, and maintain integrity of results. Quality assurance (QA) endeavours to achieve this and is fundamental to all clinical trial elements, though variation exists between specialties. For radiotherapy (RT) in the UK, the NIHR-funded national Radiotherapy Trials Quality Assurance (RTTQA) group has centralised trial RTQA processes across the RT pathway enabling a robust, consistent, efficient and multidisciplinary approach, replacing piecemeal, trial-by-trial application for QA funding. Meanwhile, the surgical community are moving towards standardised QA processes but are yet to achieve this universally. For SACT, though the importance of QA is recognised, under-reporting persists, and the increasing number and diversity of agents used poses challenges. QA in pathology and radiology is also growing as the complexity of clinical trials increases. Internationally, the EORTC have developed QA processes across domains, but uncertainty and challenge in QA implementation remain. Additionally, while the benefits of trial QA are now recognised, the potential negative effects of QA need to be recognised. Using illustrative examples from contemporary oesophago-gastric cancer studies, we further explore the current status of clinical trial QA cross these specialties.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Medicine
Additional Information:	RRS policy applied
Publisher:	Elsevier BV
ISSN:	0936-6555
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	17 November 2025
Date of Acceptance:	26 October 2025
Last Modified:	03 Dec 2025 15:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/182450

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