The objective of a new study published in JMIR Dermatology was to determine whether the presence of author conflicts of interest (COIs) in systematic reviews focusing on melanoma interventions was associated with an increases chance of favorable results and conclusions.

For this cross-sectional study, systematic reviews with or without meta-analyses, focusing on melanoma management were identified from MEDLINE and Embase databases. 

Of the 23 systematic reviews selected, 12 had at least one author with a COI. Of these – 7 had narrative results favoring the treatment group and 9 elicited conclusions favoring the treatment group. Meanwhile, of the remaining 11 systematic reviews – 4 reported results favoring the treatment group and 5 had conclusions favoring the treatment group. While no significant association was found between the presence of author COIs and the favorability of results or conclusions.

In conclusion, author COIs does not appear to impact the outcomes of systematic reviews on melanoma interventions. 

Source: JMIR Dermatology. 2021;4(1):e25858. doi: 10.2196/25858