Addressing Medical Mistrust Regarding Black Clinical Trial Participation

Medical mistrust remains a significant barrier to clinical trial participation among Black Americans. In a recent discussion with BDO’s clinical trials editor Taylyn Washington-Harmon, Audrey Davis, Senior Director of Health Equity at Cancer Support Community, discussed strategies to address this issue and increase diversity in clinical research. Davis shared her personal experience with clinical trials through her father’s cancer journey. When diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer, Davis’s father was initially hesitant about clinical trials. However, guidance from his brother, a physician, helped him decide to participate: “My dad, you know, he trusted my uncle. Right? That was his brother, his best friend, someone he’d known since they were children together…He asked him not only his medical opinion but ‘tell it to me like I’m your brother. Tell it to me like I’m someone that you care about who’s best you have at heart.'” This familial support and trusted medical advice proved crucial in Davis’s father choosing to enroll in a trial that extended his life by two years. Davis emphasized that this experience should be the norm rather than the exception for Black patients: “It really is my sincere hope…that Black and African American cancer patients and their loved...