Black Patients found to be underrepresented in prostate cancer clinical trials

Clinical trials can offer patients access to cutting-edge treatments with the potential to extend their survival and shape the standard of care in the future. As of last year, more than 400 prostate cancer clinical trials were being conducted to find interventions to extend the lives of patients. Despite the fact that black men face higher rates of prostate cancer and are more at risk of dying from the disease, black patients are underrepresented in clinical trials. A team of investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital studied a potential barrier that may be disproportionately preventing black patients from enrolling in these trials: lab test results. They found that more than half of the studies conducted used laboratory values that varied by race, disproportionately excluding black men. Their results are published in JAMA Oncology.

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Source: News Medical