02140nas a2200205   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002260000900043653002000052653002100072653001000093100001800103700001800121245009200139856007800231300001200309490000600321520159300327022001401920       2020                            d  c202010aanimal research10aclinical benefit10amedia1 aJarrod Bailey1 aMichael Balls00aClinical impact of high-profile animal-based research reported in the UK national press  uhttps://access.portico.org/Portico/auView?auId=ark:%2F27927%2Fphzjnkpp0jt  ae1000390 v43 aOBJECTIVES: We evaluated animal-based biomedical 'breakthroughs' reported in the UK national press in 1995 (25 years prior to the conclusion of this study). Based on evidence of overspeculative reporting of biomedical research in other areas (eg, press releases and scientific papers), we specifically examined animal research in the media, asking, 'In a given year, what proportion of animal research "breakthroughs"' published in the UK national press had translated, more than 20 years later, to approved interventions?'
METHODS: We searched the Nexis media database (LexisNexis.com) for animal-based biomedical reports in the UK national press. The only restrictions were that the intervention should be specific, such as a named drug, gene, biomedical pathway, to facilitate follow-up, and that there should be claims of some clinical promise.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Were any interventions approved for human use? If so, when and by which agency? If not, why, and how far did development proceed? Were any other, directly related interventions approved? Did any of the reports overstate human relevance?
RESULTS: Overspeculation and exaggeration of human relevance was evident in all the articles examined. Of 27 unique published 'breakthroughs', only one had clearly resulted in human benefit. Twenty were classified as failures, three were inconclusive and three were partially successful.
CONCLUSIONS: The results of animal-based preclinical research studies are commonly overstated in media reports, to prematurely imply often-imminent 'breakthroughs' relevant to human medicine.  a2398-8703