Position statement on ethics, equipoise and research on charged particle radiation therapy

Abstract

The use of charged-particle radiation therapy (CPRT) is an increasingly important development in the treatment of cancer. One of the most pressing controversies about the use of this technology is whether randomised controlled trials are required before this form of treatment can be considered to be the treatment of choice for a wide range of indications. Equipoise is the key ethical concept in determining which research studies are justied. However, there is a good deal of disagreement about how this concept is best understood and applied in the specic case of CPRT. This report is a position statement on these controversies that arises out of a workshop held at Wolfson College, Oxford in Au..