IMPACT in Women's Cancers: Improving Access to Clinical Trials

IMPACT in Women's Cancers: Improving Access to Clinical Trials is organized by Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM) and will be held from Jun 14 - 15, 2023.

Description:
The origin of disparities in cancer treatment and outcomes has been linked to the complex interplay of race/ethnicity, culture, socioeconomics, and education. Incorporating novel therapies, often made only available through clinical trials, in cancer treatment has been indicated as a modifiable factor that can result in improved survival outcomes. Racial/ethnic minority women and residents of low socioeconomic neighborhoods additionally face barriers to clinical trial enrollment. Thus, special populations (racial/ethnic minority women and residents of low socioeconomic neighborhoods) will benefit from enhanced access to therapeutic clinical trials.

Studies have shown that a trusted provider's recommendation was the primary factor influencing patients' decisions to enroll in a clinical trial. As a primary-care provider, you can play a critical role in: 
1) making cancer patients aware of cancer clinical trials as a potential option for care at the time of diagnosis and preferably before referral to an oncologist; and 
2) lessening some patients' inaccurate perception that clinical trials are only for patients with advanced disease and only needed when nothing else has worked. The long-term objective of our work is to eliminate racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in breast and gynecologic cancer outcomes among women.