With the growing use of real-world evidence (RWE) to support regulatory approvals of new anti-cancer medicines in Europe and the USA, can this type of research ensure greater inclusion of women, the elderly, diverse ethnic groups, those with rare cancers and other under-represented populations in oncology studies?

According to Prof. Urania Dafni, high quality real-world evidence can provide broader information and more generalisable conclusions to verify the clinical applicability of evidence from RCTs 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, real-world data have shown they can support clinical decision-making in complex situations but extensive bureaucracy is still a limiting factor

However, researchers’ concerns about missing opportunities to publish their real-world evidence-based papers in high-ranked scientific journals are justified to some extent due to lack of ‘best practices’ from publishers and suitable peer reviewers for these study designs