Breast Cancer Clinical Trials Are Missing Black Women

Good news: There’s been an overall decline in breast cancer deaths over the last 30 years. Bad news: Black women have a mortality rate 41 percent higher than that of White women. These differences are multifactorial, but are partly a result of underrepresentation of Black patients in clinical trials. Different populations can respond differently to therapies including differences in side effects, therefore, clinical trials for breast cancer that include Black women are crucial to advancing health equity.  What are clinical trials? Clinical trials, which are research studies involving human volunteers to evaluate medications, vaccines, or medical devices for safety and effectiveness, are vital in bringing forth new treatments for diseases like cancer. According to the most recent drug trial data from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), only 11 percent of the near 5,000 participants in the clinical trials of 18 new cancer drugs approved in 2020 were Black or Hispanic. This highlights the low minority representation in clinical trials, even though these groups are more likely to be affected by certain cancers. This persistent and significant disparity not only hinders the development of effective treatments for Black women with breast cancer but further perpetuates health inequities.  Why is...