American Lung Association Campaign Aims to Address Lack of Diversity in Clinical Trials, Improve Lung Cancer Care for Black Americans

The lung cancer five-year survival rate has increased by nearly 40% in the past decade. Unfortunately, this progress has not been shared equally. Black Americans with lung cancer are less likely to be diagnosed at an early stage, less likely to receive surgical treatment, and less likely to receive any treatment at all compared to white Americans. That’s why the American Lung Association is expanding its work through the Awareness, Trust and Action program to increase awareness amongst Black Americans about clinical trials and encourage them to speak with their healthcare provider about their treatment options.

Lung cancer research is moving at a rapid pace, and clinical trials are critical to advancing promising lung cancer treatments. Clinical trials are highly monitored research studies that can test many things like how to prevent a disease, new ways to detect or diagnose a disease or new ways to treat a disease. Sometimes the most appropriate treatment option for a lung cancer patient is through a clinical trial.

“We are facing an issue in cancer care in this country. Black Americans are underrepresented in clinical research, so I am working with the American Lung Association to fix that,” said Danielle Mitchell, Founder and CEO of Black Women in Clinical Research. “I started my career as a clinical research coordinator because my grandmother had cancer. I saw the lack of diversity in clinical trials, and I have set out to change that because representation matters.”

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This underrepresentation happens for many reasons, with one of them being the long-standing history of racial bias in healthcare, which impacts access to care and trust in providers. It is important to enroll a diverse group of people in clinical trials so researchers can understand the effects of potential treatment methods on the different patient populations.

The American Lung Association is expanding its Awareness, Trust and Action campaign, which initially launched in 2022, to:

• Raise awareness among Black Americans with lung cancer (as well as the larger Black community) about the availability and importance of clinical trials as a treatment option for lung cancer;
• Address misconceptions and mistrust around clinical trials and convey their value as a potential treatment option; and
• Empower Black Americans to take action by talking with their doctors about lung cancer clinical trials.

SOURCE: PR Newswire