CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Radiol Imaging 2025; 35(S 01): S119-S127
DOI: 10.1055/s-0044-1792044
Research and Publications: Contemporary and Beyond
Review Article

Comprehensive Guide to Randomized Controlled Trials in Radiology: Everything You Need to Know

1   Department of Radiodiagnosis, Mahamana Pandit Madanmohan Malaviya Cancer Centre & Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital, Tata Memorial Hospital, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
2   Department of Radiology, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
3   Department of Imaging, The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, United Kingdom
4   Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
› Institutsangaben
Funding None.

Abstract

Evidence-based medicine integrates clinical research, personal expertise, and patient values. The most robust forms of clinical evidence, such as randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and prospective studies, provide the strongest support for medical decision-making. RCTs are vital in radiology for evaluating new imaging technologies, contrast agents, and therapeutic procedures, despite challenges in translating preclinical findings to clinical practice. This guide discusses the history, principles, methodologies, and applications of RCTs in radiology, highlighting their role in advancing the field and supporting evidence-based practice.



Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
09. Januar 2025

© 2025. Indian Radiological Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
A-12, 2nd Floor, Sector 2, Noida-201301 UP, India

 
  • References

  • 1 Greenhalgh T, Donald A. Evidence Based Health Care Workbook: Understanding Research: For Individual and Group Learning. BMJ Publishing Group; 2000
  • 2 Force CT. The periodic health examination. Can Med Assoc J 1979; 121: 1193-1254
  • 3 Sackett DL. Rules of evidence and clinical recommendations on the use of antithrombotic agents. Chest 1989; 95 (02) 2S-4S
  • 4 Cochrane Library Web site. Accessed September 10, 2004, at: www.update-software.com/abstracts/ab001877.htm
  • 5 Mahajan A, Goh V, Basu S. et al. Bench to bedside molecular functional imaging in translational cancer medicine: to image or to imagine?. Clin Radiol 2015; 70 (10) 1060-1082
  • 6 Vaidya T, Agrawal A, Mahajan S, Thakur MH, Mahajan A. The continuing evolution of molecular functional imaging in clinical oncology: the road to precision medicine and radiogenomics (part I). Mol Diagn Ther 2019; 23 (01) 1-26
  • 7 Vaidya T, Agrawal A, Mahajan S, Thakur MH, Mahajan A. The continuing evolution of molecular functional imaging in clinical oncology: the road to precision medicine and radiogenomics (part II). Mol Diagn Ther 2019; 23 (01) 27-51 Erratum in: Mol Diagn Ther 2019;23(1):151
  • 8 Chidambaram AG, Josephson M. Clinical research study designs: the essentials. Pediatr Investig 2019; 3 (04) 245-252
  • 9 Lim HJ, Hoffmann RG. Study design: the basics. Methods Mol Bio; 2007; 404: 1-17
  • 10 Dennison DK. Components of a randomized clinical trial. J Periodontal Res 1997; 32 (05) 430-438
  • 11 Hill AB. The clinical trial. N Engl J Med 1952; 247 (04) 113-119
  • 12 Jadad AR. Randomised controlled trials: a user's guide. Health Technol Assess 1998; 2 (13) 214
  • 13 Stolberg HO, Norman G, Trop I. Randomized controlled trials. AJR Am J Roentgenol 2004; 183 (06) 1539-1544
  • 14 Louis TA, Lavori PW, Bailar III JC, Polansky M. Crossover and self-controlled designs in clinical research. In: Bailar III JC, Mosteller F. eds. Medical Uses of Statistics. 2nd ed. Boston, MA:: New England Medical Journal Publications;; 1992: 83-104
  • 15 Woods KL. Mega-trials and management of acute myocardial infarction. Lancet 1995; 346 (8975) 611-614
  • 16 Altman DG. Practical Statistics for Medical Research. London, England:: Chapman & Hall;; 1991
  • 17 Charlton BG. Mega-trials: methodological issues and clinical implications. J R Coll Physicians Lond 1995; 29 (02) 96-100
  • 18 Begg C, Cho M, Eastwood S. et al. Improving the quality of reporting of randomized controlled trials. The CONSORT statement. JAMA 1996; 276 (08) 637-639
  • 19 Chan KB, Man-Son-Hing M, Molnar FJ, Laupacis A. How well is the clinical importance of study results reported? An assessment of randomized controlled trials. CMAJ 2001; 165 (09) 1197-1202
  • 20 Alvin MD, Moshiri M, Bluemke DA. Prospective Clinical Trials: 10-year Trends in Radiology . Radiology 2020; 295 (01) 1-2
  • 21 Dewey M, Bosserdt M, Dodd JD, Thun S, Kressel HY. Clinical imaging research: higher evidence, global collaboration, improved reporting, and data sharing are the grand challenges. Radiology 2019; 291 (03) 547-552
  • 22 Park SH, Choi JI, Fournier L, Vasey B. Randomized clinical trials of artificial intelligence in medicine: why, when, and how?. Korean J Radiol 2022; 23 (12) 1119-1125
  • 23 Mahajan A, Vaidya T, Gupta A, Rane S, Gupta S. Artificial intelligence in healthcare in developing nations: The beginning of a transformative journey. Cancer Res Stat Treat 2019; 2 (02) 182-189
  • 24 Chakrabarty N, Mahajan A. Imaging analytics using artificial intelligence in oncology: a comprehensive review. Clin Oncol 2024; 36 (08) 498-513
  • 25 Park SH, Han K. Methodologic guide for evaluating clinical performance and effect of artificial intelligence technology for medical diagnosis and prediction. Radiology 2018; 286 (03) 800-809
  • 26 Lehman CD, Yala A, Schuster T. et al. Mammographic breast density assessment using deep learning: clinical implementation. Radiology 2019; 290 (01) 52-58
  • 27 Aberle DR, Adams AM, Berg CD. et al; National Lung Screening Trial Research Team. Reduced lung-cancer mortality with low-dose computed tomographic screening. N Engl J Med 2011; 365 (05) 395-409
  • 28 Fontana RS, Sanderson DR, Woolner LB. et al. Screening for lung cancer. A critique of the Mayo Lung Project. Cancer 1991; 67 (04) 1155-1164
  • 29 Hofvind S, Holen ÅS, Aase HS. et al. Two-view digital breast tomosynthesis versus digital mammography in a population-based breast cancer screening programme (To-Be): a randomised, controlled trial. Lancet Oncol 2019; 20 (06) 795-805
  • 30 Berg WA. Rationale for a trial of screening breast ultrasound: American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) 6666. AJR Am J Roentgenol 2003; 180 (05) 1225-1228
  • 31 Szewczyk-Bieda M, Wei C, Coll K. et al. A multicentre parallel-group randomised trial assessing multiparametric MRI characterisation and image-guided biopsy of prostate in men suspected of having prostate cancer: MULTIPROS study protocol. Trials 2019; 20 (01) 638
  • 32 Izumi N, Hasegawa K, Nishioka Y. et al. A multicenter randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of surgery vs. radiofrequency ablation for small hepatocellular carcinoma (SURF trial). J Clin Oncol 2019; 39 (15) 4002-4002
  • 33 Radosevic A, Quesada R, Serlavos C. et al. Microwave versus radiofrequency ablation for the treatment of liver malignancies: a randomized controlled phase 2 trial. Sci Rep 2022; 12 (01) 316
  • 34 Zhang Y, Xi M, Chen M, Xu L, Liu S-L, Liu M. and Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center.. “A prospective, open-label, randomized, controlled trial of radiofrequency ablation versus stereotactic body radiation therapy for recurrent small hepatocellular carcinoma.”. J Clin Oncol 2023; 41 (06) 4096-4096
  • 35 Facciorusso A, Abd El Aziz MA, Tartaglia N. et al. Microwave ablation versus radiofrequency ablation for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Cancers (Basel) 2020; 12 (12) 3796
  • 36 Pinto I, Chimeno P, Romo A. et al. Uterine fibroids: uterine artery embolization versus abdominal hysterectomy for treatment–a prospective, randomized, and controlled clinical trial. Radiology 2003; 226 (02) 425-431
  • 37 Lencioni RA, Allgaier HP, Cioni D. et al. Small hepatocellular carcinoma in cirrhosis: randomized comparison of radio-frequency thermal ablation versus percutaneous ethanol injection. Radiology 2003; 228 (01) 235-240
  • 38 Mahajan A, Chand A, Agarwal U. et al. Prognostic value of radiological extranodal extension detected by computed tomography for predicting outcomes in patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell cancer treated with radical concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Front Oncol 2022; 12: 814895
  • 39 Mahajan A, B G, Wadhwa S. et al. Deep learning based automated epidermal growth factor receptor and anaplastic lymphoma kinase status prediction of brain metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer. Explor Target Antitumor Ther 2023; 4 (04) 657-668
  • 40 Mahajan A, Goyal D, Agarwal U. et al. Exploring the implications of modified advanced lung cancer inflammation index on outcomes in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Explor Target Antitumor Ther 2023; 4 (05) 896-911
  • 41 Mahajan A, Unde H, Sable NP. et al. Response assessment of post-treatment head and neck cancers to determine further management using NI-RADS (Neck Imaging Reporting and Data System): a subgroup analysis of a randomized controlled trial. Front Oncol 2023; 13: 1200366
  • 42 Mahajan A, Ahmed S, McAleer MF. et al. Post-operative stereotactic radiosurgery versus observation for completely resected brain metastases: a single-centre, randomised, controlled, phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol 2017; 18 (08) 1040-1048
  • 43 Smith-Bindman R, Chu P, Wang Y. et al. Comparison of the effectiveness of single-component and multicomponent interventions for reducing radiation doses in patients undergoing computed tomography: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Intern Med 2020; 180 (05) 666-675
  • 44 Yoshimura S, Sakai N, Yamagami H. et al. Endovascular therapy for acute stroke with a large ischemic region. N Engl J Med 2022; 386 (14) 1303-1313
  • 45 Zaidat OO, Kasab SA, Sheth S. et al. TESLA trial: rationale, protocol, and design. Stroke Vasc Intervent Neurol 2023; 3 (04) e000787
  • 46 Sarraj A, Hassan AE, Abraham MG. et al; SELECT2 Investigators. Trial of endovascular thrombectomy for large ischemic strokes. N Engl J Med 2023; 388 (14) 1259-1271
  • 47 Wei C, Szewczyk-Bieda M, Bates AS. et al. Multicenter randomized trial assessing MRI and image-guided biopsy for suspected prostate cancer: The MULTIPROS study. Radiology 2023; 308 (01) e221428
  • 48 Kasivisvanathan V, Rannikko AS, Borghi M. et al; PRECISION Study Group Collaborators. MRI-targeted or standard biopsy for prostate-cancer diagnosis. N Engl J Med 2018; 378 (19) 1767-1777
  • 49 Freiman JA, Chalmers TC, Smith H, Kuebler RR. The importance of beta, the type II error and sample size in the design and interpretation of the randomized control trial. Survey of 71 “negative” trials. N Engl J Med 1978; 299 (13) 690-694
  • 50 Chalmers I. Applying overviews and meta-analysis at the bedside discussion. J Clin Epidemiol 1995; 48: 67-70
  • 51 Grimes DA, Schulz KF. An overview of clinical research: the lay of the land. Lancet 2002; 359 (9300) 57-61
  • 52 Kelsey JL. Methods in Observational Epidemiology. Monographs in Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Oxford University Press, Inc.; New York, New York: 1996
  • 53 Schlesselman JJ. Case-Control Studies: Design, Conduct, Analysis. Oxford University Press; New York, New York: 1982
  • 54 Thornbury JR. Eugene W. Caldwell Lecture. Clinical efficacy of diagnostic imaging: love it or leave it. AJR Am J Roentgenol 1994; 162 (01) 1-8
  • 55 Mantel N, Haenszel W. Statistical aspects of the analysis of data from retrospective studies of disease. J Natl Cancer Inst 1959; 22 (04) 719-748
  • 56 Tremaine WJ, Carlson MR, Isaacs KL, Motil KJ, Robuck PR, Wurzelmann JI. Ethical issues, safety, and data integrity in clinical trials. Inflamm Bowel Dis 2005; 11 (Suppl. 01) S17-S21
  • 57 World Medical Association. World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki: ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects. JAMA 2013; 310 (20) 2191-2194
  • 58 Blackmore CC. The challenge of clinical radiology research. AJR Am J Roentgenol 2001; 176 (02) 327-331
  • 59 Beam C, Blackmore C, Karlik S, Reinhold C. Editors' introduction to the series. AJR Am J Roentgenol 2001; 176 (02) 323-325
  • 60 Crewson PE, Applegate KE. Data collection in radiology research. AJR Am J Roentgenol 2001; 177 (04) 755-761