tailieunhanh - Cancer Clinical Trials: Participation by Underrepresented Populations

Although passive exposure to tobacco smoke has been linked to a number of health problems, it is unresolved whether it alters breast cancer risk. Most, but not all, studies that compared women who were passively exposed to tobacco smoke to women with no exposure to tobacco smoke reported an association of passive smoking with an increased risk of breast cancer. Only two of these studies showed a “dose- relationship”, where an increase in breast cancer risk was related to more tobacco smoke exposure. Other studies, which compared the risk of breast cancer of women exposed to passive smoke to women with less clearly defined passive smoke exposure (nonsmokers. | Cancer Facts Cancer Clinical Trials Participation by Underrepresented Populations Clinical trials are a critical resource for the discovery of new prevention diagnostic and treatment methods for cancer. Many of today s most effective prevention and treatment modalities are based on previous clinical trial results. 1 2 Only about 3-5 of the million adults with cancer in the . participate in cancer clinical trials. This low rate stands in sharp contrast to the 60 participation of children with cancer. 1 3 Certain populations such as those that are low income elderly racial ethnic minorities or those who live in rural areas have the smallest percentage of clinical trial participants. Unfortunately these same populations also bear a disproportionate burden of cancer morbidity and mortality. 4-6 Without adequate representation of these populations in clinical trials researchers cannot learn about potential differences among groups and cannot ensure the generalization of results. 7-10 In addition participation in clinical trials increases access to state-of-the-art cancer care a critical factor in many minority and underrepresented populations that suffer disproportionately from cancer. 2 4 5 Disparities in Clinical Trials The National Cancer Institute NCI is the largest sponsor of cancer clinical trials in the . with approximately 800 ongoing trials at 3 000 sites. Over 30 000 patients are enrolled in cancer clinical trials annually. From 1998-2001 total enrollment in NCI-sponsored treatment trials increased 22 . However the number of minority participants during that period remained stable causing a decrease in the overall percentage of minorities in 11 A review of Food and Drug Administration FDA approved drugs from 1995-1999 revealed that African Americans Asian Pacific Islanders Hispanics Latinos and Native Americans collectively represented less than 10 of participants in trials that were testing cancer The rate of participation in .