Publication of lung cancer clinical trials in Japan

Objective. The University Hospital Medical Information Network (UMIN)-Clinical Trials Registry (CTR) is a unique web-based registry of clinical trials in Japan. Clinical trials must be registered to a public database when submitting to medical journals. We evaluated the current status of the publication of Japanese lung cancer clinical trials using the UMIN-CTR. Methods. We searched for trials that had been registered to the UMIN-CTR before October 2005 to identify publications associated with the trial results in the UMIN-CTR database. Forty-eight trials concerning lung cancer treatment were found. A final search for publications was performed using the PubMed and UMIN-CTR databases on December 2014. Results. Thirty-one (64.6%) trials were published. Among them, 16 showed positive results concerning primary endpoints and 15 had negative ones. There was no significant difference in publication rates according to the number of participants (≥ 100 and < 100). The studies in which a planned final analysis date in the UMIN-CTR was described by an investigator were significantly more frequently published than those without this description (84.2% vs 51.4%, p=0.021). Conclusion. Approximately two-thirds of trials including negative trials have been published. The UMIN-CTR serves a function as the Japanese clinical trial registry.