Jennifer C. King, Ph.D. CFO of the GO2 Foundation speaks about GO2 Foundation Leads Study to Improve Participation of Black Communities in Lung Cancer Clinical Trials.
Link to Article:
https://www.interventionaloncology360.com/content/go2-foundation-leads-study-improve-participation-black-communities-lung-cancer-clinical
The GO2 Foundation for Lung Cancer (GO2 Foundation) has announced its participation in the launch of a major multi-institutional study to see how to increase Black community participation in lung cancer clinical trials.
Although total cancer patient participation in clinical trials in the United States is extremely low, at around 8%1, it is even lower among racial and ethnic minority groups. Just about 6% of patients who participate in clinical trials are Black, 3% are Asian American, and 2% are Hispanic2.
Studying Trial Determinants of Success (STRIDES) is a collaboration between Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University, and is sponsored by Genentech and Bristol Myers Squibb grants to the GO2 Foundation.
“Because of the lack of diversity in lung cancer clinical trials, it can be difficult to fully understand new ways of treating cancer across all patients,” Laurie Fenton Ambrose, co-founder, president, and CEO of GO2 Foundation said. “STRIDES will help us address the ongoing healthcare disparities that have kept patients in racial and ethnic groups out of the process of developing new treatments and allow us to work toward better outcomes.”
STRIDES will concentrate on gaining a greater understanding of the obstacles to Black patients in Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia participating in clinical trials. To begin, the project will survey and interview a variety of people involved in the clinical trial process, including patients, research personnel, and physicians, to determine what factors lead to Black patients’ lower involvement in clinical trials in these areas. The project’s second phase will use the lessons learned to select and pilot various evidence-based programs to improve Black patients’ participation in clinical trials.
Lung cancer is 30 percent more prevalent in Black men than in white men, and Black men and women are more likely than any other ethnic group to develop and die from lung cancer. Although Black women’s lung cancer rates are approximately equal to white women’s, they smoke less cigarettes.
“Because the Black community is disproportionately impacted by lung cancer, it is ever more imperative that we understand how best to effectively treat their cancer, and increasing their participation in clinical trials will be critical to that effort,” Ambrose said.
The STRIDES study was designed and implemented in collaboration with a number of researchers and institutions. The research team is made up of investigators from all four universities, and the institutional partners are providing essential services and facilities at their respective institutions.
STRIDES is important in recognizing obstacles to clinical trial participation and how increasing participation can lead to improved results for lung cancer patients, according to the research partners:
“The power of this four-way partnership among GO2 Foundation, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University is unique. It brings the patient-facing expertise of GO2 Foundation together with a multi-disciplinary team of leading researchers in medical oncology, community engagement, and health disparities,” said Christine M. Lovly, MD, Ph.D., associate professor of Medicine, Ingram Associate Professor of Cancer Research, co-leader of the Translational Research and Interventional Oncology Research Program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and chair of GO2 Foundation’s Scientific Leadership Board. “The STRIDES partnership also enables access to three distinct catchment areas in the South with diverse populations, which will allow us to identify strategies both common between and unique to the individual communities.”
“Diverse representation in clinical trials is essential to find treatments that are effective for all populations – including people from various racial, ethnic, and geographic backgrounds,” said Monica L. Baskin, Ph.D., associate director for outreach and engagement, O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center, the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “Good representation in trials also allows researchers to better understand patterns of difference in health and sickness based on backgrounds and behaviors that may provide more effective treatment and/or prevention. “
“Inclusion of a diverse population of patients in clinical trials will ensure access to novel therapies that may likely be among the newly approved therapies,” said Nagla Abdel Karim, MD, professor, medical director, Georgia Cancer Center Clinical Trials Program, Augusta University. “In addition, when treating the diverse patient population with the standard of care options, the knowledge of efficacy and toxicity will not be complete, unless there was the adequate contribution of everyone within those studies.”
To learn more about STRIDES visit https://go2foundation.org/research/our-research-studies/strides/.