Nationally, compared to Caucasians, African-Americans are diagnosed with more advanced cancer, experience a 25% higher cancer mortality rate, and have 5-year survival rates that are as much as 34% lower among the cancers of greatest incidence. In North Carolina, racial and ethnic minorities experience cancer incidence, mortality, and survival rates that are even worse than those experienced nationally among several cancers. Clinical trials have been widely looked to as a means of resolving treatment disparities, as well as disseminating state-of-the-art care more broadly into the community where the majority of cancer care is delivered. However, enrollment in clinical trials in North Carolina remains low, especially among minority populations. The goal of this pilot study is to inform the development of a targeted intervention to improve cancer clinical trials participation among minorities and others who are under-represented in cancer clinical trials in North Carolina. Specifically, Phase I will be a population-based quantitative analysis employing innovative methods to estimate and examine National Cancer Institute (NCI) clinical trial enrollment rates by race, gender, age group, geographic region (each county), and income level, and examine how these rates have changed over time. In Phase II, we will work with our existing community partners to conduct focus groups with community members and community clinicians to better understand reasons for the under-enrollment identified in Phase I. Finally, in collaboration with our community partners and informed by existing programs used to educate communities about clinical trials, we will develop a targeted intervention to increase cancer clinical trial enrollment rates in underserved populations in North Carolina. ? ? ? ?
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