Conducting randomised controlled trials across countries with disparate levels of socio-economic development: the experience of the Asia-Pacific Hepatocellular Carcinoma Trials Group.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which constitutes over 85-90% of all primary liver cancers, is the most predominant type of liver cancer, and the third leading cause of cancer related deaths in the world. While the Asia-Pacific is a highly heterogeneous region in geography, ethnicity and in the level of socio-economic development, the main burden of HCC falls in this region and there are compelling reasons and advantages to conduct definitive clinical trials in HCC where it is endemic. The Asia-Pacific Hepatocellular Carcinoma (AHCC) Trials Group was established in 1997 and has faced and overcome challenges that are inherent in conducting clinical trials in a disparate region. Clinical trial infrastructure is rudimentary at many sites and requires significant effort to be expended on training and monitoring to ensure production of definitive data. The benefits of industrial support of Investigator-Initiated Trials are discussed in the context of the Asia-Pacific. The positive experience of the AHCC trials group would be valuable to any collaborative trials in countries with disparate levels of socio-economic development.