Integrating Systematic Reviews into Supportive Care Trial Design: The Rethinking Clinical Trials (REaCT) Program.

Purpose: To review the successes and challenges of integrating systematic reviews (SRs) into the Rethinking Clinical Trials (REaCT) Program.

Methods: All REaCT program SRs were evaluated and descriptive summaries presented.

Results: Twenty-two SRs have been performed evaluating standard of care interventions for the management of: breast cancer ( = 15), all tumour sites ( = 4), breast and prostate cancers ( = 2), and prostate cancer ( = 1). The majority of SRs were related to supportive care ( = 14) and survivorship ( = 5) interventions and most (19/22, 86%) confirmed the existence of uncertainty relating to the clinical question addressed in the SR. Most SRs (15/22, 68%) provided specific recommendations for future studies and results were incorporated into peer-reviewed grant applications ( = 6) and clinical trial design ( = 12). In 12/22 of the SRs, the first author was a trainee. All SRs followed PRISMA guidelines.

Conclusion: SRs are important for identifying and confirming clinical equipoise and designing trials. SRs provide an excellent opportunity for trainees to participate in research.