The prevalence and influence of self-reported conflicts of interest by editorial authors of phase III cancer trials.

Purpose: To assess the frequency with which editorial authors report personal conflict of interest and investigate a possible association between the presence of such conflicts and favorable opinion.

Methods: Eligible studies were editorials of phase III clinical trials of antitumor drugs or symptom management published from January 2007 to December 2009 in four top oncology journals. Data from the editorials were collected and each editorial opinion was classified as favorable, neutral or unfavorable with respect to the experimental therapy.

Experience with the ABC Foundation School of Medicine undergraduate meeting.

Objective: To quantify the number of studies that were presented during oral sessions, selected for awards and published from 2002 to 2007 at the Undergraduate Medical Congress of ABC at the ABC Foundation School of Medicine.

Methods: A retrospective systematic survey of papers selected for oral presentation and award at these undergraduate meeting from 2002 to 2007 was carried out by searching Medline and Lilacs databases and the annals of other medical meetings in order to ascertain which papers would eventually be published.

Results: From 2002 to 2007, 408 papers were selected for oral presentation and 71 (17.

[How to consent without understanding?].

Background: The Consent Form (CF) is an important document that informs patients about benefits and risks of a study, it assures patients the right to accept or reject participation in a procedure related to their health. Some authors believe that Consent Forms are complex and difficult to read for most people.

Objective: Correlate the difficulty of understanding CF, through the Flesch Index (FI) and Flesch-Kincaid Index (FKI), used in our oncology outpatient clinic, with the profile of our patient's education.