Cancer clinical trials represent the cutting edge in modern cancer medicine – in the last 10 years, there has been dramatic improvements in anti-cancer therapy such as PARP inhibitors and immunotherapy in gynaecological cancers have resulted in significant improvements for patients. However, these advances have only been made through cancer clinical trials and research repeatedly demonstrates that CALD groups and other ethnic minorities are systematically under-represented in these clinical trials.
The reasons for continuing inequity in cancer clinical trials are diverse and involve barriers at patient, site and sponsor level. Different cultures have different perceptions of medical institutions and their authority, and also different levels of trust. CALD status intersects with other key areas of health vulnerability including low socioeconomic status and low health literacy. Most clinical trial sites are not culturally competent in the sense they are able to truly achieve equity in care through measures such as easy access to interpreting services. Finally, clinical trials continue to have exclusionary protocols when it comes to the necessity for patient reported outcome measures which require patients to understand English.
This talk will summarise best practice in equity, diversity and inclusion for cancer sites conducting cancer clinical trials and it is hoped that the audience will leave with a clear understanding of the processes and resources that are required at their site so that their site can play its part in improving equity for patients from CALD backgrounds.