Al-Shamsi, H.O.; Abu-Gheida, I.; Sameh, K.; Tahoun, N.E.; Musallam, K.M. Arab Countries and Oncology Clinical Trials: A Bibliometric Analysis. Cancers2023, 15, 4428.
Al-Shamsi, H.O.; Abu-Gheida, I.; Sameh, K.; Tahoun, N.E.; Musallam, K.M. Arab Countries and Oncology Clinical Trials: A Bibliometric Analysis. Cancers 2023, 15, 4428.
Al-Shamsi, H.O.; Abu-Gheida, I.; Sameh, K.; Tahoun, N.E.; Musallam, K.M. Arab Countries and Oncology Clinical Trials: A Bibliometric Analysis. Cancers2023, 15, 4428.
Al-Shamsi, H.O.; Abu-Gheida, I.; Sameh, K.; Tahoun, N.E.; Musallam, K.M. Arab Countries and Oncology Clinical Trials: A Bibliometric Analysis. Cancers 2023, 15, 4428.
Abstract
The increasing cancer burden is a major health concern in Arab countries with variations in cancer profiles. Given the limited oncology research output and scarce data on cancer trial participation in the Arab region, this study explored the therapeutic cancer trial landscape in Arab countries over the past 20 years. A bibliometric analysis of the PubMed database was conducted on primary publications of therapeutic trials with a participating Arab center. Arab countries participated in 320 published cancer-related therapeutic trials (2000‒2021). There was a consistent increase in the number of trials, sample size, multiregional site participation, and number of randomized trials. However, most trials were small, did not receive external funding, and included a single Arab site. Compared with Arab-only trials, trials with joint non-Arab sites were larger (p = .003) and more likely to be externally funded (p < .001). Citation numbers and journal impact factors were higher in trial publications with joint non-Arab authorship than those without (p < .001, for both). Despite improving conduct and publication records of oncology trials with Arab centers, cancer trial participation remains limited in Arab countries. Concerted efforts are required to encourage sponsorship and international collaboration in this region.
Keywords
research; oncology; Arab; Middle East; North Africa; cancer management
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Oncology and Oncogenics
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
