Diversity in Clinical Trial Enrollment in Key Oncology Trials: Are We There Yet?

Dr. Chino welcomes Dr. Jennifer Miller and breast cancer survivor Megan-Claire Chase to discuss Dr. Miller's recent OP article, "Representation of Women, Older Adults, and Racial and Ethnic Minoritized Patients in Pivotal Trials for U.S. Food and Drug Administration Novel Oncology Therapeutic Approvals, 2012-2021: Bright Spot Trials and Trends Over Time," highlighting new research about how we are doing with diversity in key cancer clinical trials

TRANSCRIPT

Dr. Fumiko Chino: Hello and welcome to Put into Practice, the podcast for the JCO Oncology Practice. I'm Dr. Fumiko Chino, an associate professor in Radiation Oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center with a research focus on access, affordability, and equity.

There are known problems in enrolling a representative sample on cancer clinical trials, with stark disparities within certain demographic groups, including age, sex, and race and ethnicity. Patients who are female, non-White, and at the age extremes, either younger or older, are known to be less likely to participate. With skewed patient participation, the validity of randomized data may be questioned, with some asking whether clinical trial results based on a charmed enrollment sample can truly be applied in routine practice.

I'm happy to welcome two guests today to discuss new research highlighting how we are doing with diversity in key cancer clinical trials. Dr. Jennifer Miller, is Co-Director of the Program for Biomedical Ethics and an associate professor at Yale School of Medicine. Her research focuses on ethics, equity, and governance in research, development, and accessibility, as well as in the ethics of healthcare data sharing. She is the first author of the manuscript, "Representation of Women, Older Adults, and Racial and Ethnic Minoritized Patients in Pivotal Trials for US Food and Drug Administration Novel Oncology Therapeutic Approvals, 2012 to 2021: Bright Spot Trials and Trends Over Time," which is featured in JCO OP's March print issue.

Megan-Claire Chase is a 10-year breast cancer survivor, patient advocate, and a current program director at SHARE Cancer Support, a national nonprofit that provides free education, assistance, and navigation services for people with breast and gynecological cancers. Since her treatment for stage 2A lobular cancer, she has worked to fill the gap of knowledge and advocacy for young patients with cancer, including through her blog, Life on the Cancer Train, and through the podcast, Our BC Life.

Our full disclosures are available in the transcript of this episode, and we've already agreed to go by our first names for the podcast today.

Jen and Megan-Claire, it's really nice to speak to you today.

Dr. Jennifer Miller: Thank you for having us.

Megan-Claire Chase: Thank you.