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Sep 12, 2022

ADD TOPIC TO EMAIL ALERTS Receive an email when new articles are posted on Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com . Back to Healio Younger patients with newly diagnosed cancer are comprising a larger proportion of participants in phase 2 and phase 3 clinical trials for treatments, research published in the journal Cancer showed. An analysis by NCI researchers revealed a mean 4.4% increase in adolescent and young adult (AYA) trial participation after the NCI formed its National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) in 2014. Background NCTN is an international cooperative group that helps coordinate cancer clinical trial research at more than 2,200 international sites. The network aims to increase enrollment of patients with rare cancers and those from the AYA population , among other established goals, according to Hari Sankaran, MD, MSc, medical officer in the division of cancer treatment and diagnosis at NCI. Hari Sankaran “It’s important for adolescents and young adults to participate in cancer clinical trials to ensure adequate opportunities for [these] patients to contribute to, and benefit from, advances in cancer treatment,” he told Healio. Methodology Sankaran and colleagues collected accrual data from phase 2, phase 2/phase 3 and phase 3 clinical trials led by the NCI’s Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP) between 2004 and 2019 to evaluate participation among AYAs before and after the launch of NCTN. The analysis found 304 trials that met the analysis criteria, including trials led by a member of the NCI’s cooperative group and that enrolled newly diagnosed patients between the ages of 15 and 39 years. Key findings Investigators found AYAs comprised 9.5% (95% CI, 7.6-11.8) of the accrued clinical trial population before the NCI established the NCTN in 2014. This proportion increased to 14% (95% CI, 9.9-18.3) of the entire clinical trial population after the NCTN became active. Researchers calculated a 4.4% (95% CI, 0.7-8.3) mean difference in proportions before and after establishment of NCTN. Implications Results of the study suggest oncologists are “taking advantage of the NCTN” and offering their younger patients with cancer the opportunity to enroll in trials offered by the cooperative, Sankaran said. Although not designed to identify specific policies that contributed to the increase in AYA participation since the establishment of NCTN, the study likely revealed “multiple factors,” including making it easier to open an NCTN trial at smaller institutions and increasing the visibility of trials that offer treatment for AYAs, Sankaran said. “The NCI, through the NCTN, is working hard to make clinical trials available for AYAs and trying to engage oncologists not only at the academic centers, but also in the community and at smaller centers so their AYA patients can have access to these trials with the newest treatments,” he told Healio. For more information : Hari Sankaran, MD, MSc, can be reached at Biometric Research Program, Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, NIH, National Institutes of Health, 9609 Medical Center Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892-9735; email: hari.sankaran@nih.gov. Read more about