Table 3 Ovid/MEDLINE search strategy

Design terms

#1

Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic/

100,690

#2

Randomized Controlled Trial/

382,290

#3

Random Allocation/

80,788

#4

Double Blind Method/

129,303

#5

controlled clinical trial.pt.

88,866

#6

randomized controlled trial.pt.

382,290

#7

Clinical Trial/

499,767

#8

clinical trial.pt.

499,767

#9

Clinical Trials as Topic/

173,590

#10

1 or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6

631,570

#11

7 or 8 or 9

602,541

#12

((singl* or doubl* or treb* or tripl*) and (blind* or mask*)).ab,ti.

145,496

#13

Placebos/

33,372

#14

((random* and (clinical or control*) and trial) or (placebo* and ("randomly allocated" or (allocated and random*)))).mp. [mp = title, abstract, original title, name of substance word, subject heading word, keyword heading word, protocol supplementary concept, rare disease supplementary concept, unique identifier]

457,488

#15

12 or 13 or 14

513,100

#16

11 and 15

264,991

#17

10 or 16

645,804

Disease terms

#18

((lung* or pulmon*) and (adenocarcinom* or squamous or "large cell" or "non-small cell")).ab,ti.

59,093

#19

Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/

34,861

#20

(metastatic or advanced or stage or "stage 3" or stage4 or "stage 4" or stageIII or "stage III" or StageIV or "Stage IV" or Stage?III or "Stage ?III" or Stage?IV or "Stage ?IV" or "StageIII/IV" or "Stage III/IV" or "StageIII?/IV?" or "Stage III?/IV?" or "StageIII/StageIV" or "Stage III/Stage IV" or "StageIII?/StageIV?" or "Stage III?/Stage IV?" or inoperable or in?operable or unresectable or non?resectable or "late?stage" or (metast* or advance*)).ab,ti.

1,177,250

#21

18 or 19

66,533

#22

20 and 21

34,403

#23

17 and 22

3,600

Exclusion terms

#24

case report.ab,ti.

201,610

#25

review.pt.

1,893,388

#26

letter.pt.

817,960

#27

Clinical Trial, Phase I.pt.

15,867

#28

Historical Article/

298,058

#29

systematic review.ab,ti.

44,587

#30

clinical review.ab,ti.

3,354

#31

24 or 25 or 26 or 27 or 28 or 29 or 30

3,184,956

#32

23 not 31

2,702

Rx terms

#33

drug therapy/ or treatment outcome/ or ("treatment" and "response").ab,ti. or ("drug" and "efficacy").ab,ti. or outcome assessment/

1,014,086

#34

32 and 33

1,611

Final

#35

limit 34 to yr = "1995 -Current"

1,464