Evidence-appraisal glossary
Basket trial
A trial that tests a single targeted treatment across several different diseases that share a common molecular feature, such as a specific genetic mutation, rather than sharing an organ of origin.
Also called: basket study.
Basket trials are common in cancer, where a drug aimed at a particular mutation may help tumors arising in different tissues that carry it. Grouping patients by the shared target rather than by disease site can reveal broad activity and speed testing of precision therapies. The caution is that each disease-specific basket is often small, and a treatment can work well in one tissue but not another, so pooled results may hide meaningful differences between the baskets.
This is a plain-language methodology definition for reading research. It is general education, not medical advice.