Anticancer drug evaluation: continuing progress from existing methodology.

Abstract

Current methods of anticancer drug evaluation are responsible for past successes, such as the development of cisplatin and other well-established agents. Phase II trials based on meticulously measured response rates provide an excellent tool for the identification of promising compounds whose exact place in the clinic may be further clarified in subsequent, larger studies. On the same basis, the many inactive compounds may be screened out after testing them in only a handful of patients. After a period of lull, this established methodology is once more yielding important breakthroughs.