The register currently includes information on cancer trials only, although the registry is expanding to include perinatal trials. It allows searchers to identify unpublished and ongoing cancer clinical trial research and is a resource for all those with an interest in health care research—including health care providers, consumers and funders.

Aims of the National Clinical Trials Registry

The aims of the registry are to:
• provide a general description of clinical trials research
• identify clinical trials planned and in progress
• enable protocol details to be registered before the results are known
• provide a means for selecting trials for meta-analysis and review articles
• ensure that trials are ethical and worthwhile
• in the long term, improve clinical care and clinical practice

Why is a registry required?

Recent trends in the practice of medicine have emphasised the importance of basing treatment decisions on solid evidence that those treatments are effective.

The highest level of evidence comes from systematic reviews of all relevant randomised trials or, when this is not available, evidence from at least one properly designed randomised controlled trial.

Benefits of registration

Prospective registration of clinical trials will:
• improve communication among researchers by providing accessible information for those considering designing or participating in a clinical trial
• encourage collaborative research, and hence stimulate recruitment to clinical trials, which will increase the likelihood of a trial's success
• reduce repetition, by making details of established research available to those in the process of designing a trial
• allow the conduct of methodological research, to investigate the ways in which trials are undertaken
• allow clinical trials in Australia to be included in international registries of clinical trials
• assist funding bodies in allocating funds to clinical trials research, by identifying and describing work in progress.

What is recorded by the registry?

The registry records:
• a trial's objectives
• a trial's main design features
• sample size and statistics
• the treatments under investigation
• the outcomes being assessed
• the principal investigator's contact details.

Registered trials are allocated a registration number, and the date of registration is recorded. Information on each trial (including accrual, trial status and publication status) is updated annually.

Confidentiality

The approval of the principal investigator is obtained before a trial is registered. As some investigators may want to avoid disseminating a particular idea, treatment regimen or design feature before it is formally published, they can choose to restrict access to sensitive details. Registration 'in camera' enables all (or selected) details to be registered, but restricts public access to the information.