Attempts to diversify study populations lacking in every clinical setting

2009 AACR Science of Cancer Health Disparities Conference

A lack of incentive and support are preventing the successful recruitment of minorities into clinical trials, according to results from a study presented this week at the 2009 AACR Science of Cancer Health Disparities Conference in Carefree, Ariz.

The NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 requires that recruiters seek out minorities for inclusion in clinical trials, yet minorities are still underrepresented in studies. Daniel Dohan, PhD, and Galen Joseph, PhD, professors at UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, have concluded that a lack of incentives in some cases, and a lack of institutional support in others are to blame.

“None of the sites we studied had a very effective program for recruiting diverse patients,” Dohan said during a press conference Wednesday.

Dohan and Joseph looked at 10 oncology clinics in three settings: academic medical centers, community-based private practices and public safety-net clinics. Although they found support within the academic and private-practice settings for diversifying clinical trials, they determined that recruiters in those settings had little motivation to overcome language and/or cultural barriers associated with minority patients.

In the safety-net setting the researchers found that some providers were motivated to recruit minority patients out of a sense of justice, but organizational culture did not support their efforts.

“The folks in the safety-net clinics were very focused on getting clinical care to patients who needed access to care,” he said. “Doing clinical research seemed like a kind of extra that didn’t seem to be squarely within their mission. For that reason, the research programs weren’t well-supported by the organizational culture.”

Dohan cautioned against generalizing the findings from one fairly small qualitative study, and added that he and Joseph would be doing further research to see if these results are broadly applicable. – by Jason Harris

For more information:

Dohan D. #PR-6. Recruiting diverse patients to therapeutic trials: A comparison of three clinical settings. Presented at: the 2009 AACR Science of Cancer Health Disparities Conference Carefree; Feb. 3-6, 2009; Carefree, Ariz.