Risk-adjusted Phase I clinical trial

A risk-adjusted Phase I clinical trial is a first-in-human or dose-finding study that explicitly incorporates patient-level risk covariates — such as organ function, prior therapy, or genetic markers — into the dose-escalation model. Rather than treating all enrolled participants as homogeneous, the design accounts for individual differences in tolerance, allowing the recommended dose to vary by risk stratum. This approach is especially common in oncology, where patients with impaired renal function or heavily pre-treated disease may tolerate lower doses than the broader population.