Opportunities to examine the relevance of health interventions in actual clinical scenarios need to be created
Evidence-based medicine underpins high-quality health care.1 The use of evidence in the practice of medicine informs appropriate decision making, reduces variability in clinical practice and helps ensure improvement of patient outcomes. Most evidence relating to new knowledge is derived from randomised clinical trials.2,3
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- 9. Cunningham D, Allum WH, Stenning SP, et al. Perioperative chemotherapy versus surgery alone for resectable gastroesophageal cancer. N Engl J Med 2006; 355: 11-20.
- 10. Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry. TOP GEAR: Trial of Preoperative Therapy for Gastric and Esophagogastric Junction Adenocarcinoma. A randomised phase II/III trial of preoperative chemoradiotherapy versus preoperative chemotherapy for resectable gastric cancer. http://www.anzctr.org.au/ACTRN12609000035224.aspx (accessed Apr 2011).
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I completed a 3-month sabbatical at the National Institute of Clinical Studies in 2009, was the recipient of multiple NHMRC project grants, and have served on various NHMRC committees. I am also Chair of the Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Trials Group, under whose auspices several of the trials mentioned or alluded to in this article have occurred.