Treatment
Washington, D.C.—A new report from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) takes an in-depth look at disparities across all areas of cancer research and suggests immediate policy solutions that could help address such gaps in the years to come.
The report, Cancer Research and Disparities: Understanding and Addressing the Issues, finds that different types of research can either exacerbate or minimize cancer disparities as can the makeup of the cancer care and research workforce.
For instance, while racial and ethnic minority groups and older patients are equally willing to participate in clinical trials as other groups, they are often underrepresented in clinical trials. Reasons for this disparity in enrollment include everything from insurance status and trial location to the trial designs themselves; most of which are not designed to specifically identify, understand, or address disparities in cancer outcomes.
Also, research to identify and address disparities in outcomes has to be deliberate and specifically designed. This research often requires significant over-representation of certain populations and the inclusion of information from a wide array of clinical and social science work. Without such an approach research may miss why cancer outcomes are often worse for patients with limited access to care, lower SES and other factors.
“Addressing disparities in all areas of cancer research is essential to tackling the disproportionate cancer burden communities of color and people living in under-resourced areas too often experience,” said Lisa Lacasse, president of ACS CAN. “No one should be disadvantaged in their fight against cancer because of how much money they make, the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, their gender identity, their disability status, or where they live.”
Yet preliminary results from a forthcoming ACS CAN Survivor Views survey, finds Hispanic and non-white respondents were more likely to report a negative experience when asked about different aspects of their treatment, including whether they were confident they had access to the best and most effective treatment, if they were an active participant in their care and whether they were able to get the preventive care needed as a survivor. And more than 1 in 8 respondents whose annual household income is $35K or less reported that it is not easy to receive preventive care like check-ups and regular cancer screening.
Policy measures that would address research disparities were discussed during ACS CAN’s National Policy Forum on the Future of Health Care earlier this month and included in the report entail:
“Cancer research needs to reflect the people and communities it is meant to serve,” said Lacasse. “We cannot afford to ignore or neglect the critical role of diversity in advancing medical science. We need to take decisive action to eliminate cancer disparities in all areas of cancer care, including in cancer research.”
The full report, including all of the detailed policy provisions, and a recording of the National Policy Forum, where the report and other cancer equity issues are discussed, are both available online.