High-level oncology researcher does not reveal his links

(This article has been reported and written in collaboration with ProPublica, the organization of nonprofit investigative journalism.)

In recent years, one of the world's largest breast cancer doctors has not disclosed millions of dollars in payments for drugs and health care, omitting financial ties with dozens of research in prestigious publications such as The New England Journal of Medicine .

The researcher, Dr. José Baselga, a leading figure in the world of cancer, is the medical director of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He was a board member or advisor to Roche and Bristol-Myers Squibb, among other companies, played a role in start-ups testing cancer therapies and played a key role in the development of breakthrough drugs that have revolutionized breast cancer treatments. .

According to a New York Times analysis and ProPublica, Baselga has not followed the financial disclosure rules established by the American Association for Cancer Research when it was chairman of the group. He also left out the payments received from companies related to cancer research in his articles published in the journal of the group, Cancer discovery. At the same time, he was one of two editors of the newspaper.

At a conference this year and before analysts in 2017, he gave a positive picture of the results of two Roche sponsored clinical trials, which many others have deemed disappointing, without revealing his relationship with the society. Since 2014, he has received more than $ 3 million from Roche in consulting fees and for participating in an acquired business.

Baselga has not contested its relationship with at least a dozen companies. In an interview, he stated that the breaches of the disclosure were unintentional.

He pointed out that much of his industry's work was publicly known, but he declined to provide payment figures for his involvement in some biotech start-ups. "I recognize that there have been inconsistencies, but that's what it is," he said. "It's not that I do not appreciate the importance."

Baselga's many relationships with its many companies – and its inability to disclose them – show how permeable the boundaries between academic research and industry are, and that medical journals and professional societies

Ten years ago, a series of scandals involving the secret influence of the pharmaceutical industry on pharmaceutical research has prompted the medical community to strengthen its requirements for disclosure of conflicts of interest. Ethicists are concerned that external impediments may influence the design of studies and that drugs be prescribed to patients, which can influence medical practice.

The disclosure of these links allows the public, other scientists and physicians to evaluate the research and assess potential conflicts.

"If the leaders do not follow the rules, we do not really have any rules," said Dr. Walid Gellad, director of the Center for Drug Policy and Prescribing at the University of Pittsburgh. "He says rules do not matter."

Sanctions for these ethical failings are not severe. The Cancer Research Group, AACR, warns authors who fill out disclosure forms for their journals that they are imposed a three-year publication ban when they discover financial relations that they have not revealed. But the ban is not included in the conflict of interest policy posted on its website, and the group said that no author has ever been prevented.

Many journals and professional societies do not check disputes and simply ask the authors to correct the file.

Officials from AACR, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the New England Journal of Medicine stated that they were examining Baselga's omissions after The New York Times and ProPublica. The lancet refused to say whether she would consider the question.

Christine Hickey, a spokeswoman for Memorial Sloan Kettering, said that Baselga had correctly informed the hospital of its work in the industry and that it was Baselga's responsibility to disclose these relationships to companies. entities such as medical journals. The center for cancer control, she said, "has put in place a rigorous and comprehensive compliance program to promote honesty and objectivity in scientific research."

When asked if he intended to correct his statements, Mr Baselga asked the journalists what they would recommend. Several days later, in a statement, he stated that he would correct his reports on conflicts of interest for 17 articles, including in the New England Journal of Medicine. , The Lancet and the publication that he publishes, Cancer Discovery. He stated that he did not believe that disclosure was necessary for dozens of other articles detailing the early stages of research.

New York Times News Service