Strategies for enhancing participation of underrepresented patient populations in cancer clinical trials: learning from “bright spots”

Description

Jennifer E Miller leads a five-author team reporting a 2026 study of cancer trials that succeeded at enrolling Black and LatinX patients in line with disease burden. Instead of cataloguing barriers again, the team used a bright spot approach: they found trials behind FDA approvals of new cancer drugs between 2012 and 2021 that enrolled fairly. They then interviewed thirteen people from eight of those trial teams, an hour each. Transcripts were compared across teams for shared practices.

Successful strategies clustered at five levels, from patients and communities up to policy. Teams budgeted in advance for patient expenses, co-created education with communities, and used patient navigators. They engaged clinicians early, simplified protocols, widened eligibility, and ran the trials through community and satellite hospitals. Sponsors backed it with leadership commitment, enrollment dashboards, performance incentives, and staff training. The authors offer this playbook as a route to cancer evidence that travels.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/PMC13501612