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Objective:To standardize the management of pediatric Investigator-Initiated Trails (IIT) and improve the execution quality, this study takes a tertiary hospital for children in Shanghai as an example to analyze and summarize the main quality problems in the implementation of pediatric IIT projects and provide appropriate suggestions.Methods:From 2020 to 2022, based on the quality indicators of the IIT project of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, and combined with the characteristics of pediatrics, a centralized monitoring method was used to conduct spot checks and evaluations on the IIT project of a tertiary hospital for children in Shanghai.Results:From 2020 to 2022, a total of 77 IIT projects were inspected, including 27 in the initiation stage, 36 in the execution stage, and 14 in the conclusion stage. In terms of ethical compliance, there are issues with researchers′ weak ethical awareness and non-standard signing of informed consent in the pediatric IIT project. The main problems in terms of execution quality and science include non-standard CRF table design, insufficient awareness of safety management, lack of emphasis on research registration and specialized data management, randomization and blind methods. There are issues with low enrollment rate and low funding execution rate in terms of execution progress.Conclusions:There are certain quality problems during the execution of pediatric IIT projects. Strengthen the establishment of an effective process management and supervision system to improve the quality management of pediatric IIT research processes is needed.
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Objective:To explore the critical issues in the construction of management and supporting system of Investigator-Initiated trials (IIT) in pediatrics.Methods:Through summarizing related literature and considering the current status of pediatric clinical research, the critical issues in the construction of management and support system, for instance, the responsibility, training model, and performance evaluation in Europe and U. S. were evaluated, decision-making suggestions were put forward based on domestic pediatric IIT management system.Results:Besides IIT, clinical trials on children′s drugs are also supported by the pediatric clinical research management system in Europe and U. S.. The supporting service covers research consultation, ethical review, research design, trial implementation, patient education, risk control, and investigator training. The organizational structure and management system are relatively mature. Clinical trials are the majority of clinical research in children′s hospitals in China. Main issues identified in the construction of the management and supporting system include ethical review for pediatric clinical research, professional investigator training, multicenter cooperation scheme, performance assessment, and incentive strategies.Conclusions:Taking account into the current status of pediatric IIT in China, it is urgent to accelerate the training of pediatric investigators, set up standard IIT project management team, build the professional project management platform and Electronic Data Capture System, and promote the transformation of research outcomes. Finally, the whole process management of pediatric IIT will be developed to facilitate the development of pediatric medicine.
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Objective@#To compare droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) and Super-amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS) in the detection of T790M mutation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in the plasma of non-small cell lung cancer patients who had developed resistance to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) , and to investigate the clinical application of ddPCR.@*Methods@#Plasma samples were collected from non-small cell lung cancer patients who had acquired EGFR-TKI resistance at Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University, from May 2017 to November 2017. Extracted ctDNA was analyzed by ddPCR and Super-ARMS to evaluate the T790M mutation status of EGFR gene.@*Results@#A total of 37 patients with activating EGFR mutation that acquired resistance to EGFR-TKI were selected in the study, including 17 male and 20 female with a median age of 64 years (range 40-83 years). Before TKI treatment, all the patients harbored EGFR inhibitor sensitive mutations but without T790M mutation. After acquiring resistance to EGFR-TKI treatment, the T790M mutation rate detectable by ddPCR was 45.9% (17/37). In contrast, the mutation rate of T790M detectable by Super-ARMS was 35.1% (13/37, P<0.05). For the 13 positive cases detected by Super-ARMS (ΔCt<8), they were all positive by ddPCR assay; Among the 10 negative cases detected by Super-ARMS (ΔCt≥8), there were 3 cases positive by ddPCR assay. For patients without ΔCt by Super-ARMS assay, there was one weak positive case detectable by ddPCR assay. Among 17 EGFR T790M positive patients, 9 received EGFR inhibitor Osimertinib treatment, and 7 of them had good therapeutic response after the treatment.@*Conclusions@#While a significant correlation between the two methods is shown. ddPCR is more sensitive than Super-ARMS in the detection of EGFR T790M mutation, indicating that it is a better method in guiding target drug therapy of non-small cell lung cancer patients after acquiring the resistance to EGFR-TKI.