“The Battle of Amiens, which began on 8 August 1918, was the opening phase of the Allied offensive…that ultimately led to the end of World War I. Allied forces advanced over seven miles on the first day, one of the greatest advances of the war.”1 “The importance of this offensive in tactical terms was that it…provided a further example of the effectiveness of shifting from stagnant trench warfare to mobile multifaceted warfare.”
THE PROBLEM After impressive victories against hematologic and germ cell malignancies, the battle against common epithelial cancers has evolved into a grinding war of the trenches, where statistical victories with P .05 are hailed as advances despite survival gains of mere weeks (Table 1).3-11We feel that progress against cancer and most other diseases has been slowed substantially by the clinical research efficacy bar having been set too low and consequently the safety bar having been set too high. When little is to be gained, minimization of risks becomes paramount. Together these faulty efficacy and safety standards slow research progress while escalating costs.