Conflicts of interest (COI) among the UpToDate oncology management authors

• Published in: Journal of clinical oncology Vol. 39; no. 15_suppl; p. e13573
• Main Authors: Chengappa, Madhuri, Desai, Aakash, Go, Ronald S., Poonacha, Thejaswi K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 20.05.2021
• ISSN: 0732-183X; 1527-7755
• DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2021.39.15_suppl.e13573

Abstract only e13573 Background: UpToDate is an evidence based clinical resource designed to provide current clinical information. It is a widely used clinical practice tool providing evidenced based recommendations for diagnosis, management, and therapy. The extent of COI among the UpToDate authors has not been well studied. Our study evaluated the extent of COI of UpToDate authors involved in medical management recommendations for the 10 most common cancers in United States. Methods: We examined the latest November 2020 version of the UpToDate clinical management recommendations for 10 most common cancers. Using disclosure lists, we catalogued COIs for participants in each work group. The categories included: Category I- Grant/Research/Clinical Trial Support; Category II- Consultant/Scientific Advisory Boards/Expert witness; Category III- Speakers Bureau; Category IV- Equity Ownership/Stock Options/Patent holder/Employment/Other Financial Interest; and Category V- Spouse/Domestic Partner/Dependent Potential Conflict. We cataloged the companies/institutions involved in each disclosure. An “episode” describes 1 instance of participation of an individual in 1 company in 1 category for each cancer section. Results: There was a total of 207 authors including section and deputy editors of oncology management section. All authors completed their COI disclosures (100%). 128 (62%) of a total of 207 individuals reported COIs. A total of 1343 episodes were disclosed. We found that each author had an average of 10.49 episodes overall. Authors involved in Category I, II, III, IV & V were 6.3%, 13.5%, 3.2%, 4.7% and 1.6% respectively. 29.36% authors were involved both in Category I and II. A total of 672 company affiliations were associated with COI disclosure. AstraZeneca (6.10%), Merck (4.31%) and Novartis (2.68%) were the companies most frequently reported. The guideline with the maximum episodes (223) was prostate cancer. Conclusions: COIs are prevalent among authors of UpToDate clinical management recommendations. More than ½ of the participants disclosed at least 1 COI, but there appears to be a substantial number of experienced experts without COIs. Further research studies are necessary to determine the impact of these COIs on clinical practice patterns and resource utilization. Distribution of COI and total episodes.[Table: see text]