Oncology clinical trials during the COVID-19 outbreak: Lessons learnt during the crisis and future opportunities

The COVID-19 pandemic affected many activities in the healthcare system including oncology drug development. Clinical trial recruitment was temporary halted in many centres to reduce patients and healthcare workers’ potential exposure to the virus. Conversely, to continue offering treatments for patients already on effective therapies, multiple actions were timely put in place, resulting in simplification of trial-related procedures for patients and clinicians’ best interest, reduction of the operational burden and effective communication. Here, we suggest maintaining effective measures for future trial simplification and to expedite drug development.