[cowsandmilk]

I really would like to see this claim from the article verified. Most clinical trials I'm aware of are not truly against placebo, especially not cancer trials. Even the Avastin trial mentioned in the article is not truly against placebo.

The two arms were: (a) standard treatment + placebo (b) standard treatment + Avastin

So, while it is true that placebo was compared to Avastin, it could be that Avastin acts identically to current standard of care. That is, Avastin could show no impact in this trial and show impact in "just Avastin" vs. "just placebo".

In most progressing fatal diseases, it is unethical not to provide standard of care, so trials are set up such that all patients receive at minimum current standard of care.