Tulane University Jul 17 2025 A new study by a Tulane University researcher casts doubt on a widely used shortcut in rectal cancer drug trials, raising concerns that some treatments may be fast-tracked for approval without evidence they help patients live longer. The study, published in JAMA Network Open in collaboration with researchers at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, found that the absence of detectable tumors after treatment – a key metric in clinical cancer drug trials known as pathologic