Oncology failure signals
Oncology Phase II clinical trial failure signals in stopped trials
Oncology is the largest disease area in the stopped-trial dataset. Phase II is where many programs start to show whether the biology is promising enough to keep moving.
- Oncology accounts for 7,871 stopped records in the current dataset.
- Oncology has 581 likely biological failure signals: 304 efficacy/futility and 277 safety records.
- Phase II appears in 4,524 oncology stopped records.
- Within oncology Phase II records, 204 are efficacy/futility and 159 are safety stops.
- The largest oncology sponsors by stopped-record count include M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, National Cancer Institute (NCI), and Novartis Pharmaceuticals.
Why oncology Phase II is worth separating
Oncology is not just another disease area in this dataset. It is the largest one, with 7,871 stopped records. That makes it useful for search demand, but also easy to misread if everything is grouped together.
Phase II is especially important because it often sits between early safety/tolerability work and larger confirmatory trials. A stop at this point can be a stronger signal about efficacy, futility, dose, endpoint, or patient-selection problems.
What the oncology slice shows
In oncology, operational and unclear stop reasons are still the biggest groups: 4,175 operational records and 3,099 other/unknown records. But the biological signal is large enough to study directly, with 304 efficacy/futility stops and 277 safety stops.
That is why the oncology view should not be just a list of terminated cancer trials. It should separate scientific signals from administrative noise.
The Phase II signal
Phase II appears in 4,524 oncology stopped records. Inside that slice, the dataset includes 204 efficacy/futility stops and 159 safety stops.
Those are the records I would inspect first when looking for failed endpoints, weak activity, tolerability problems, or early signs that a program was not strong enough to continue.
Sponsor context matters
The largest oncology stopped-trial sponsor counts include M.D. Anderson Cancer Center with 326 records, National Cancer Institute (NCI) with 311, Novartis Pharmaceuticals with 138, Hoffmann-La Roche with 97, and Washington University School of Medicine with 91.
Those counts should not be read as a simple ranking of bad performance. Large research centers and active sponsors naturally run more studies. The better use is comparison inside a reason bucket, phase, and disease context.
Oncology stop-reason buckets
| Reason bucket | Oncology records |
|---|---|
| Operational | 4,175 |
| Other/unknown | 3,099 |
| Efficacy/futility | 304 |
| Safety | 277 |
| Regulatory | 16 |
Oncology Phase II stop signals
| Reason bucket | Phase II oncology records |
|---|---|
| Operational | 2,456 |
| Other/unknown | 1,697 |
| Efficacy/futility | 204 |
| Safety | 159 |
| Regulatory | 8 |
Largest oncology stopped-trial sponsor counts
| Sponsor | Oncology stopped records |
|---|---|
| M.D. Anderson Cancer Center | 326 |
| National Cancer Institute (NCI) | 311 |
| Novartis Pharmaceuticals | 138 |
| Hoffmann-La Roche | 97 |
| Washington University School of Medicine | 91 |
Continue from here
FAQ
How many oncology stopped trial records are in the dataset?
The current dataset contains 7,871 oncology stopped trial records.
How many oncology records are likely biological failure signals?
There are 581 oncology records classified as likely biological failure signals: 304 efficacy/futility records and 277 safety records.
Why focus on Phase II oncology trials?
Phase II often tests whether the treatment signal is strong enough to justify larger trials, so efficacy, futility, and safety stops in this phase can be especially useful for failure analysis.
Source note: counts are generated from the current ClinicalTrials.gov-derived stopped-trial dataset used by ClinicalTrialFailures.com. These labels are analytical screening signals, not medical advice.