Table 4.

Overview of the characteristics of the 42 trials included in the analysis

Characteristic		Total: n = 42
		n	%
Type of neoplasm	Gastrointestinal	9	21.4
	Breast	9	21.4
	Hematological	6	14.3
	Gynecological	4	9.5
	Lung	3	7.1
	Genitourinary	3	7.1
	Skin	3	7.1
	Head and neck	2	4.8
	Non-specific	3	7.1
Decade of initiation	1980s	2	4.8
	1990s	5	11.9
	2000s	12	28.6
	2010s	23	54.8
Study status	Completed	35	83.3
	Ongoing	7	16.7
Protocol availability	Accessible	23	54.8
	Inaccessible	19	45.2
Clinical phase	I	2	4.8
	I/II	1	2.4
	II	9	21.4
	II/III	1	2.4
	III	7	16.7
	IV	1	2.4
	N/A	21	50.0
Randomization	Randomized	31	73.8
	Non-randomized	5	11.9
	Single-arm	6	14.3
Blinding	Blinded	2	4.8
	Open-label	40	95.2
Number of study arms	1	6	14.3
	2	30	71.4
	3 or more	6	14.3
Type of intervention	Pharmacotherapy	24	57.1
	Surgery	13	31.0
	Radiotherapy	16	38.1
	Other	7	16.7
	Combination	15	35.7
Type of comparator	Active	34	81.0
	Standard of care or equivalent	28	66.7
	Placebo	2	4.8
	None	7	16.7
Primary endpoint(s)	Overall survival	6	14.3
	Quality of life	1	2.4
	Surrogate	26	61.9
Secondary endpoint(s)	Overall survival	26	61.9
	Quality of life	23	54.8
	Surrogate	36	85.7
Site-level setting	Monocentric	11	26.2
	Multicentric	31	73.8
Country-level setting	National	29	69.0
	International	13	31.0
Legal sponsorship	By industry	3	7.1
	By other party	39	92.9
Funding source	Commercial	15	35.7
	Non-commercial or academic	27	64.3
		Median	IQR
Study duration (in years)		5.5	3–8
Impact factor journal of publication		9.162	4.853–41.316
Number of participants	Phase II trials	68	51–121
	Phase III trials	501	231.5–748
	Overall	161	87.5–538.5