This study aimed to partner with patients, advocates, and physicians to better understand the barriers that exist for Black and African Americans to enroll in prostate cancer (PCa) clinical trials.
Through moderated discussions with patients, advocates, and physicians, we identified potential opportunities to increase the enrollment of underrepresented patients in PCa clinical trials.
We identified key barriers to Black and African American enrollment in PCa clinical trials that were shared by all groups but also identified group-specific barriers. We developed recommendations based on key themes that have the potential to increase the enrollment of Black and African Americans in PCa clinical trials.
While racial diversity in PCa clinical trials remains an unsolved problem, there are significant opportunities to better address this unmet need. Through a multi-perspective approach to identify key barriers that limit Black and African American enrollment in PCa clinical trials, we developed recommendations for both sponsors and clinical trial sites to increase diverse patient enrollment in PCa clinical trials, with a focus on employing practical strategies.
This is a study to investigate why there are low numbers of Black and African Americans participating in prostate cancer clinical research. Clinical trials help us understand if new cancer medications are better at treating cancer than medications that are currently available, and additionally what side effects they may cause. Medications can have different effects in different groups of patients; therefore, it is important that clinical trials include all different kinds of patients, especially patients from different racial and ethnic groups. However, prostate cancer clinical trials do not enroll enough Black and African Americans even though the rate of prostate cancer is higher in Black and African Americans than other groups of Americans. In this study, we asked physicians, patient advocates, and patients why they believe there are low rates of Black and African Americans in prostate cancer clinical trials. We worked with all three groups to identify potential ways to increase clinical trial participation by Black and African Americans.
Future oncology (London, England). 2025 Feb 24 [Epub ahead of print]
Paul Leger, Stanley Frencher, Jones T Nauseef, Brian Jones, Mehmet A Bilen, Alan Brown, Aminha Ullah, Shane McDevitt, Che-Kai Tsao
Department of Oncology, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA., Department of Urology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, MLK Jr. Community Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA., Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA., Pennsylvania Prostate Cancer Coalition, Harrisburg, PA, USA., Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Genitourinary Medical Oncology Program Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA., Advocate Radiation Oncology, Fort Myers, FL, USA., Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Whippany, NJ, USA., Tisch Cancer Institute, Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.