The Methods and Terminology of Cancer Trials: A Review

Program Description:

Oncology nurses and nurse practitioners assist in evaluating and treating patients on a daily basis. If clinical trials are a part of the practice, these clinicians will be expected to assist with paperwork, data recording, and explaining the study to prospective participants. It is important that nurses understand the basics of cancer research in general and each study being done in particular to better carry out the research.

Activity Objectives:

After participating in this activity, clinicians should be better able to:

• Describe the three phases of clinical trials


• Understand the basic statistical concepts used in cancer research trials: P value, confidence interval, relative risk, and hazard ratio


• Describe the issues that concern patients about participation in clinical trials

Faculty:

Donald R. Fleming, MD
Oncologist
Cancer Care Center
Davis Memorial Hospital
Elkins, West Virginia

Disclosures:

Donald R. Fleming, MD, reported no financial relationships or relationships to products or devices they or their spouse/life partner have with commercial interests related to the content of this CE activity.

Planners, reviewers, and staff
Fiona J. Shannon, MHS, FNP; Phyllis Arn Zimmer, MN, FNP, FAAN; Tanya Gregory, PhD; Kristen Childress, DNP, ARNP and Connie Morrison-Hoogstede, MN, ARNP, AOCNP, reported no financial relationships or relationships to products or devices they or their spouse/life partner have with commercial interests related to the content of this CE activity.

Accreditor Disclosure:
The Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Foundation (NPHF) assesses conflict of interest with its instructors, planners, reviewers, and other individuals who are in a position to control the content of CE activities. All relevant conflicts of interest that are identified are thoroughly vetted by NPHF for fair balance, scientific objectivity of studies utilized in this activity, and patient care recommendations. NPHF is committed to providing its learners with high quality CE activities and related materials that promote improvements or quality in health care.

Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in the educational activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of or imply endorsement by NPHF, the American Nurses Credentialing Center, or Haymarket Media, Inc. As this article contains only a review, participants have an implied responsibility to use this newly acquired information while also consulting other appropriate sources of information in order to gain full understanding of the topic.

Accredited Provider:

Co-sponsored by the Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Foundation and Haymarket Media Inc.

Instructions:

To obtain credit, a score of 80% or better is required. This CNE is offered at no cost to participants. Please proceed with the activity until you have successfully completed this program, answered all test questions, completed the posttest survey, and have received your digital copy of your credit certificate. Your online certificate will be saved on myCME.com within your Profile/Exam History, which you can then access at any time.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

WINDOWS PC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
266-MHz Pentium II; Windows 98 or higher; 64 MB RAM; 800 x 600 screen resolution set for “High Color (16-Bit)”; Macromedia Flash Player 6 or higher.

MACINTOSH^® SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
Power Mac g3 at 300 MHz; System 8.5 or higher (excluding Mac OSX); 96 MB RAM; 20 MB minimum hard disk space available; 800 x 600 screen resolution set to “Thousands of Colors”; Macromedia Flash Player 6 or higher.