Rethinking Risk-Benefit Assessment for Phase I Cancer Trials

Although vital to developing new cancer treatments, phase I trials in oncology remain ethically controversial. Classically, they involve the initial administration of new antineoplastic agents to patient-participants, based on apparent safety and potential for efficacy in in vitro and animal studies. Participants, though not imminentlydying,generallyhaveadvancedcancer,haveexhausted establishedanticancertreatments,andareineligibleforlater-phase