Abstract P1-09-21: Impact of the benfluorex scandal on French cancer patients’ attitude toward clinical trials
Authors: Hajjaji N 
Published: August 2014

Background

Enrolling cancer patients into clinical trials is an endearing process. Pharmaceutical companies fund nearly 40% of these cancer trials. A variety of considerations take part in a patient's decision to participate to a clinical trial, including their opinion regarding the pharmaceutical industry. Recently, benfluorex (Mediator®), a drug first marketed in 1976 for hyperlipidemia and diabetes by a French pharmaceutical company, has filled the French headlines repeatedly because of efficacy and safety issues. The impact of this scandal on French cancer patients’ attitude toward clinical trials is not known. The aims of this study were to determine i) cancer patients’ opinion toward the pharmaceutical industry, physicians, and research, and ii) their willingness to participate to clinical trials, in the context of the benfluorex scandal.

Methods

To investigate this issue, a self-administered anonymous survey was performed in 221 French cancer patients. The survey instrument collected information about age, gender, and whether the patient already participated to a clinical trial. A question with multiple answers queried whether the benfluorex situation casted suspicion on the pharmaceutical industry, physicians, clinical research funded by the pharmaceutical industry, or research as a whole. A yes or no question queried patients’ willingness to participate to clinical trials funded by the pharmaceutical industry. Logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between patients’ characteristics and the dependent variables.

Results

Median age was 64 years (range 19 to 86 years) and 57% of the patients were female. Thirty three percent of the patients had already participated to a clinical trial. Eighty five percent of the patients declared that clinical research was necessary, 11% that it was useful, less than 1% that it was not useful, and 4% of the patients did not know. The benfluorex scandal induced distrust toward the pharmaceutical companies in 75% of the patients, toward research funded by these companies in 43% of the patients, research as a whole in 20% of the patients, and toward physicians in 14% of the patients. These results were not influenced by age, gender, or previous participation to a clinical trial. Regarding their attitude toward clinical trials funded by the pharmaceutical industry, 60% of the patients declared that they were not willing to participate, 25% of them that they would participate, and 15% that they did not know. A negative answer was less likely when patients had previously participated to a clinical trial.

Conclusions

Although no connection exists between benfluorex and cancer, these results show that this scandal significantly impaired French cancer patients’ trust toward the pharmaceutical companies and research, and their willingness to participate to clinical trials funded by the pharmaceutical industry. These results highlight the need to better understand patients’ motivation to help implement strategies to maintain their participation to clinical trials.

Citation Information: Cancer Res 2013;73(24 Suppl): Abstract nr P1-09-21.