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An inactive look-alike treatment given to the comparison group in a trial so that neither patients nor doctors can tell who is on the real drug. In cancer trials it is added on top of standard treatment, never given instead of it.
Placebos control for the placebo effect (improvement from expectation), for the extra attention trial patients receive, and for bias in how symptoms and side effects are reported; in oncology a placebo arm nearly always means 'standard of care plus placebo' versus 'standard of care plus new drug', since withholding effective treatment would be unethical. Placebo-controlled designs are most common in adjuvant and maintenance settings where the comparator is observation, and they are impossible when the new drug's side effects give it away. When an active standard exists, trials compare against it directly (open-label or double-dummy) rather than using placebo.
Shares Reiki, healing touch and other energy therapies, Acupuncture and acupressure for chemotherapy nausea, Acupuncture for hot flushes on endocrine therapy.
Shares Blinded trial, Blinding (double-blind, open-label, placebo-controlled), Clinical equipoise, Randomised trial.
Shares ACT IV, Blinding (double-blind, open-label, placebo-controlled), Clinical equipoise, Standard of care.
Shares N-of-1 trial, Add-Aspirin, Randomised trial, Standard of care.
Shares Clinical equipoise, Informed consent, Low-dose olanzapine for cancer anorexia (Tata Memorial), Clinical trial.
Shares Reiki, healing touch and other energy therapies, Homeopathy, Acupuncture and acupressure for chemotherapy nausea, Acupuncture for aromatase-inhibitor joint pain.
Shares Clinical hypnosis for procedures, pain and hot flushes, Acupuncture for hot flushes on endocrine therapy, Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
Shares Blinded trial, Blinding (double-blind, open-label, placebo-controlled).