Submitted by Sorin61 t3_z563cl in technology
puffferfish t1_ixy59sb wrote
Reply to comment by impy695 in Brain cancer vaccine succeeds at prolonging survival in Phase 3 trial by Sorin61
A “placebo effect” isn’t really applicable in this case. It would be optimal to have a control for patients, something like giving them a pill with every ingredient aside from the drug, but this is likely not going to influence something like brain cancer. Brain cancer will not be influenced psychologically, and there is enough data to know on average how long patients with this cancer will survive. In a phase 3 trial it is important to get enough patients to participate for good statistics, and to do it as ethically as possible. To do this, you can just leave out an active “placebo” arm of the trial.
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