Nearly nine out of 10 physicians and researchers who helped develop a leading set of cancer care guidelines in the United States reported financial ties to the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, a University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center study found.

Of the 125 panelists who worked on setting the National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s guidelines for lung, breast, prostate and colorectal cancer, 108 received some form of industry funding. This could include general payments for food, lodging, or speaker fees as well as research funding, according to the study published in JAMA Oncology. The majority of those payments were within the limits set by the NCCN to prevent financial conflicts of interest, but eight guideline authors exceeded them.

While the study was not designed to explore whether the payments influenced the physician’s clinical practice or the recommendations made in the guidelines, the researchers say the finding of a high prevalence of financial relationships lays the foundation for future studies looking at that question.

“The prevalence of financial relationships was fairly high among physicians who authored these cancer treatment guidelines. Knowing this, it will be important to ask whether those relationships influence the recommendations that guideline authors make,” said Aaron Mitchell, MD, the study’s lead author and a clinical fellow in the UNC School of Medicine Division of Hematology/Oncology.

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