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Hindi Research Article
The Development of a Minority Recruitment Plan for Cancer Clinical Trials
Monica Trevino1, Susan Padalecki1,2, Anand Karnad1,3, Alberto Parra3, Steve Weitman1,4, Melissa Nashawati1, Brad H. Pollock1,5, Amelie Ramirez1,5,6 and Ian M. Thompson1,2*
1Cancer Therapy and Research Center, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, USA
2Departments of Urology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, USA
3Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, USA
4Pediatrics, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, USA
5Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, USA
6 Institute for Health Promotions Research, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, USA
- *Corresponding Author:
- Ian M. Thompson
Cancer Therapy and Research Center at the University of Texas Health Science Center
7979 Wurzbach Road, San Antonio
TX 78229, USA
E-mail: ThompsonI@uthscsa.edu
Received date: July 01, 2013; Accepted date: August 21, 2013; Published date: August 23, 2013
Citation: Trevino M, Padalecki S, Karnad A, Parra A, Weitman S, et al. (2013) The Development of a Minority Recruitment Plan for Cancer Clinical Trials. J Community Med Health Educ 3:230. doi: 10.4172/2161-0711.1000230
Copyright: © 2013 Trevino M, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background: Cancer does not occur in all ethnic and racial groups at similar rates. In addition, responses to treatment also vary in certain ethnic and racial groups. For Hispanics, the overall cancer incidence is generally lower yet for some specific tumor types, the incidence rates are higher compared to other populations. Objectives: Although disparities are recognized for treatment outcomes and prevention methodologies for Hispanics and other minority populations, specific recruiting and reporting of minorities remains a challenge. In order to circumvent this problem, the Cancer Therapy and Research Center (CTRC) has developed a new minority recruitment plan for all cancer related clinical trials at this Institute. The overall goal of this initiative is to increase the accrual of minorities in cancer clinical trials by implementing several key interventions. Method: The Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio established the Clinical Trials Accrual Task Force to develop and monitor interventions designed to increase accrual to cancer clinical trials, specifically the accrual of minorities with a focus on the Hispanic population that makes up 68% of the CTRC’s catchment area. Results: A Minority Accrual Plan (MAP) was implemented in March 2013 as part of the process for initiating and conducting cancer-related clinical trials at the CTRC. The Minority Accrual Plan focuses on Hispanic enrollment due to the characteristics of the South Texas population served by the CTRC but could be easily adapted to other populations. Conclusions: The CTRC has designed a process to prospectively address the challenge of deliberately enrolling minority subjects and accurately accounting for the results by implementing a Minority Accrual Plan for every cancerrelated clinical trial at CTRC.
