FDA watchers and clinical trialists in oncology may want to pay close attention to the agency’s latest plans to increase representation of traditionally marginalized populations in drug development.
There’s a cultural perception in drug development that enrolling a diverse, heterogeneous patient cohort can be “risky” for detecting drug effects—a perception that needs to go away, said Lola Fashoyin-Aje, associate director of the Science & Policy Program to Address Disparities at the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence and a deputy division director in the agency’s Office of Oncologic Diseases.
Drug manufacturers and researchers have a moral obligation to design clinical trials that adequately represent the target population for the investigational agent—and these medical products need to be safe and effective for everyone, leading clinical trial experts in oncology say.
Few people can say they have contributed more to our field than Dr. Walter Lawrence, Jr., and we are so deeply saddened by his passing Nov. 9 at age 96.
The Association of American Cancer Institutes is designing two programs to address systemic underrepresentation of racial and ethnic minority physicians and scientists in leadership positions in oncology.
The National Cancer Act of 1971 established an unprecedented government-wide plan to eradicate a major disease, creating institutions that have no equivalent in other therapeutic areas and galvanizing the nationwide conversation about cancer.
Researchers have made tremendous progress in cancer prevention and treatment over the past few decades. As a result, the death rates for many common cancers are declining in the U.S.1 Unfortunately, not everyone is benefitting from these breakthroughs.
The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas will focus on finding solutions for health disparities among patients with cancer, Michelle Le Beau, the institute’s new chief scientific officer, said to The Cancer Letter.
Spanning part of September and October, it is a time to celebrate and recognize Hispanics or Latinos or Latinx persons* for their contributions. This nationwide observation begins on Sept. 15 when several countries in Latin America celebrate independence—Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Mexico celebrates independence on Sept. 16 and Chile on Sept. 18. Towards the end of Hispanic Heritage Month, Oct. 12 is also recognized as Día de la Raza.1 Persons of Hispanic ancestry have walked the Americas since 1492.
Congress needs to increase the FY22 base budgets of NIH and NCI by $3.2 billion and $1.1 billion, respectively, over FY21 levels, the American Association for Cancer Research said in its 2021 Cancer Progress Report.
