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Patients with lung, colon cancers often not informed about clinical trials
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The majority of patients with newly diagnosed lung or colorectal cancers do not have discussions with their care team about clinical trial participation, according to survey results.
The finding suggested limited patient awareness may be a considerable barrier to trial enrollment, researchers wrote.
Kenneth L. Kehl, MD, and colleagues surveyed a multiregional cohort of patients with lung or colorectal cancers 3 to 6 months after diagnosis.
Researchers asked patients or their surrogates whether they learned clinical trial participation might be an option and, if so, with whom they discussed that possibility. The investigators also evaluated the associations between specific patient characteristics and the likelihood they had discussions with providers about clinical trial participation.
The analysis included data from 7,887 survey participants. Of them, 1,114 (14.1%) indicated they had discussed the possibility of clinical trial participation, and the majority indicated they learned of that option from their physicians.
Results showed 287 patients enrolled in clinical trials. That equated to 3.6% of all survey respondents, and 25.8% of those who reported discussing clinical trials with their providers.
Kehl and colleagues determined patients with advanced disease — defined as stage III or stage IV lung cancer, or stage IV colorectal cancer — were more likely than patients overall to discuss trials with their providers (25.7% vs. 14.1%) and enroll in a clinical trial (7.6% vs. 3.6%).
Researchers determined patients who were older were less likely to have discussions about clinical trials than those who were younger, and patients who were Asian or African-American were less likely to have discussions about clinical trials than those who were white. Patients with more comorbidities and those with lower incomes also were less likely to have discussions about trial participation (P<.05 for all).
The primary barriers to enrollment in clinical trials are awareness of trials, opportunity to participate, and acceptance of trial participation, Anneke T. Schroen, MD, of the department of surgery at the University of Virginia, wrote in an accompanying editorial.
“The authors have reaffirmed in a large population of patients suffering from common, frequently lethal malignancies and receiving treatment in different geographic regions and health care systems that the primary barrier to trial participation is the opportunity to participate,” Schroen wrote. “Importantly, the opportunity to benefit from treatment in a clinical trial is not offered equally to patients, affecting equitable access to promising new therapies and generalizability of trial results.”
For more information:
- Kehl KL. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2014; doi:10.1093/jnci/dju216.
- Schroen AT. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2014; doi:10.1093/jnci/dju265.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant disclosures.