Perspectives on the design of clinical trials for targeted therapies and immunotherapy in veterinary oncology

- Clinical trials represent the link between basic science research and clinical practice.
- Target therapy describes agents that only affect neoplastic cells while sparing normal cells.
- New challenges are target identification, study endpoints, and trial design.

The field of oncology research has undergone major changes in recent years. Progress in molecular and cellular biology has led to a greater understanding of the cellular pathways and mechanisms of cell proliferation and tissue invasion associated with cancer. New classes of cancer therapies are becoming available or are in development but these new agents require a paradigm shift in the design of oncology clinical trials. This review provides an overview of clinical trial designs for the development of tumour vaccines and targeted therapeutic agents. In addition, some of the successes, limitations and challenges of these trials are discussed, with a special emphasis on the difficulties and particularities that are encountered in veterinary medicine compared to similar work in human patients.