They were correct, and I am sympathetic to these calls for more rigorous trials.
This debate underscores the importance of subjecting screening tests to rigorous trials to find whether they help reduce cancer mortality.
But bringing such treatments — tested and refined in rigorous trials — safely to market will take years, experts say.
Larger scale, methodologically rigorous trials are needed to consolidate these findings.
The more rigorous trials included 12 hours apprenticing as a groundskeeper at Shea Stadium and 14 hours training as a sous-chef at Le Bernardin restaurant in Manhattan.
The study's findings are also encouraging, he added, because "they suggest that with the proper groundwork we can conduct rigorous trials of complementary or alternative therapies".
Finding new drugs like a microbicide often can be a process of trial and error, and requires scientifically rigorous trials, Dr. Piot said.
"Clinical validation of our telomerase gene therapy strategy, as with any other therapies, should be achieved through rigorous trials validated and backed by the regulatory agencies," she says.
But the impact of rigorous trials on the epidemic could be limited, because answers might not come until 15 to 20 years after they are started.
But unless such treatments are tested in rigorous trials, he said, there's no way to know whether they are safe and effective.
More rigorous trials with larger numbers of participants and a control group are needed to strengthen the conclusions.
