Approximately 15% of cancer patients in the United States are Black, but only up to 6% of participants in clinical trials are Black. In addition, patients with metastatic breast cancer who are Black often face worse survival rates than other groups of people.
So how can this discrepancy be addressed? In this study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology for the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting, researchers from the BECOME (Black Experience of Clinical Trials and Opportunities for Meaningful Engagement) project sought to assess the barriers to clinical trial access experienced by Black patients with metastatic breast cancer.
The BECOME project is sponsored by the Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance, an association of advocates for breast cancer awareness from nonprofit organizations and pharmaceutical/biotech companies, among other groups. One of the objectives of BECOME is to identify barriers to clinical trial participation, and this objective is carried out through surveys and other actions. Results from one survey of 424 respondents were assessed.
Ultimately, it was found that 24% of survey participants self-identified as Black. Over 80% of Black participants reported that they were likely to consider participating in a clinical trial, but 40% of these participants reported no one on their care team had discussed clinical trial participation with them.
Moreover, their main concerns about clinical trials were effectiveness and side effects, with 57% of Black survey participants reporting they believed novel treatments might be harmful. However, Black survey participants were more likely than non-Black survey participants (67% vs. 10%) to report they valued trial information from a person of the same racial or ethnic background.
In conclusion, as reported in this analysis, Black patients are willing to participate in clinical trials. Healthcare providers should educate all of their patients about the option to participate in clinical trials and provide resources to help support them in their search for appropriate clinical trials in which they can participate [1].
Source:
[1] Walker, S., Carlson, M., White, C. B., Howell, J., & Felder, T. M. (2022, June). Increasing Black patient participation in metastatic breast cancer clinical trials: the BECOME (Black Experience of Clinical Trials and Opportunities for Meaningful Engagement) project [Poster discussion session]. 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL. https://meetings.asco.org/abstracts-presentations/208058
