Racial Disparity in Clinical Trials of Immunotherapeutics for Breast Cancer
Posted: Tuesday, April 28, 2020
According to research made available as part of the virtual platform of the 2020 Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer (Abstract 148), a significant racial disparity, especially among black women, exists in clinical trials that study the safety and efficacy of immunotherapeutics for breast cancer. The study sought to determine the rate of minority participation in trials of immunotherapies for breast and gynecologic cancers.
“To better address the racial disparity in outcomes for these cancers, it is crucial that better efforts be made to involve these patients in clinical trials,” concluded Aubrey White, MD, of the University of South Alabama, and colleagues.
The investigation included a review of 131 clinical trials in which a total of 29,478 patients participated. The majority of the trials were for breast cancer research (52%; n = 69), followed by ovarian (28%; n = 37), endometrial (13%; n = 17), and cervical cancers (5%; n = 7). Of the 131 trials, just 16 (12%) reported the racial breakdown of their 12,353 total participants. Data from those 16 trials showed that black participants were the least represented named racial group at 2% (n = 211), whereas white participants were the most represented at 72% (n = 9,133), followed by Asian participants at 22% (n = 2,789) and participants of other races at 4% (n = 506).
The observed enrollment of black patients into breast cancer immunotherapy trials was 44-fold lower than the expected enrollment if all races experienced equal accrual rates, as determined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention age-adjusted incidence. Observed enrollment rates for black participants were also significantly lower than expected in ovarian trials (23-fold; P < .001) and endometrial trials (14-fold; P < .001). The comparison could not be made for cervical trials, as no black patients had been enrolled in those trials (P < .001).
Disclosure: The study authors reported no conflicts of interest.
