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The struggle for diversity in clinical trials continues
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) promoted 2016 as the Year of Diversity in Clinical Trials. At that time, less than 10 percent of patients enrolled in clinical trials were minorities. “The most important reason we need more minorities in clinical trials is to ensure that the discoveries, the treatments, interventions, and prevention strategies are going to be relevant to those populations,” said Consuelo H. Wilkins. Wilkins is executive director of the Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance, a partnership between Meharry Medical College and Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. She wondered how results can be applied to minorities if they’re not included in the research.

The status of clinical research: 2018 year-end trends
Mark Twain is often credited with the observation that everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.1 This sentiment is applicable for a year-end review of the clinical trial sector, which includes longstanding barriers and inefficiencies known to anyone doing the good work of clinical trials. At times, such angst may have an outsized influence on the vital work of the sector.

FDA opens door for pediatric inclusion in some adult oncology trials
While some researchers seek to increase minority participation in clinical trials, others continue to focus on one population subgroup – pediatrics. Specifically, these researchers have called for adolescents being allowed access to adult oncology trials when their tumors most resemble those of adults.