Study design
Mechanistic study
Research exploring how a biological process might work.
What it means
Definition
Mechanistic study. Mechanistic studies help explain plausibility, but they do not by themselves prove clinical benefit. They often sit early in the evidence chain before human outcome studies.
What it can tell you
It can show how close the evidence is to a real human health outcome.
What it cannot tell you
It cannot prove that a treatment works in people unless human outcome data are available.
Headline trap
Why this matters in headlines
A cell-signalling mechanism may explain a possible effect without showing that a treatment helps patients.