Recent increase in reporting of financial conflicts of interest

(HealthDay)—Reporting of financial conflicts of interest (FCOIs) has increased over time in clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) and consensus statements (CSs) for the treatment of common solid tumors, according to research published online Nov. 10 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

In an effort to examine self-reported author FCOIs, Ariadna Tibau, M.D., from the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau in Barcelona, Spain, and colleagues identified CPGs and CSs for common solid cancers published between January 2003 and October 2013. The authors also extracted data on funding sources, use of manuscript writers, and endorsement of specific drugs in the article abstract. Data were included for 142 articles, of which 64 percent were CPGs and 36 percent CSs.

The researchers found that from 2003 to 2013 the proportion of articles reporting FCOIs increased from 11 to 93 percent (P for trend < 0.001). Funding sources were explicitly reported in only 45 percent of articles, 65 percent of which disclosed full or partial industry sponsorship. Thirteen percent of articles declared use of manuscript writers, but many articles did not specifically report the authors' roles in writing the manuscript. There was a significant correlation for endorsement of specific drugs with author FCOIs (odds ratio, 7.29; P = 0.001), but not with industry funding (odds ratio, 0.95; P = 0.37).

"Despite prevalent funding of guideline development by industry, such funding is not associated with endorsement of specific drugs," the authors write.

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