University of Pennsylvania researchers increased participation of Black patients in their cancer trials from 11.1 percent of the overall trial population in 2014 to 16.2 percent in 2018 using a community outreach and engagement initiative that included culturally tailored marketing strategies, individual protocol plans to facilitate Black participation and education partnerships with faith-based organizations.

According to the university’s Abramson Cancer Center (ACC), Black residents represented 19 percent of the population and 16.5 percent of cancer cases in a 12-county catchment area surrounding Philadelphia in 2014. The percentages of Black patients then enrolled in treatment, nontherapeutic interventional and noninterventional trials were 12.2 percent, 8.3 percent and 13.0 percent, respectively.

The five-year engagement program, which reached more than 10,000 people, helped raise the percentage of Black patients seen at the center to 16.2 percent. Black patients enrolled in treatment (23.9 percent), nontherapeutic interventional (33.1 percent) and noninterventional (22.5 percent) trials also increased by 2018, according to findings published by the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

The program also featured pilot programs with Lyft and Ride Health to provide transportation, patient education by nurse navigators on cancer and clinical trials, and an improved informed consent process.

As part of its long-term strategy to improve access to clinical trials, the ACC has also partnered with the Lazarex Cancer Foundation to help launch its IMPACT (IMproving Patient Access to Cancer Clinical Trials) program, which reimburses patients for travel expenses.

Read the ACC’s abstract here: https://bit.ly/2SevR5r.