Catchment Areas Shape Diversity and Access in Oncology Trials: Amir Fathi, MD

Diversity in clinical trial participation varies by testing site, access, and patients’ perceptions of the clinical drug, according to panelists at the Boston Regional Institute for Value-Based Medicine on February 5.

Panelist and director of the leukemia program at Massachusetts General Hospital, Amir Fathi, MD, explained that catchment areas dictate the population of a study or clinical trial in an interview with The American Journal of Care^® and during his panel discussion titled, “From Vision to Reality: Building Diversity in Clinical Trials.”

“Access to care is going to be different in Boston versus New York versus Mississippi versus California, and it depends on the city you're in,” he said. “It also depends on the institution you work at.”

However, partnering with larger sponsors or pharmaceutical companies can help offset the financial burden of conducting larger studies across multiple institutions. These partnerships are extremely beneficial when investigating uncommon oncological diseases, like leukemia.

For example, Fathi noted that there are far fewer patients diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia each year. Approximately 23,000 cases of acute myeloid leukemia arise every year, when compared with other oncology diseases like breast cancer.¹

“The lower number of patients, it’s oftentimes difficult to do large studies to look at access to care outcomes according to race or gender or other socioeconomic [factors],” Fathi explained.

Clinical trial data that isn’t generalizable has a significant impact on underserved populations, Fathi said. Therefore, institutions and hospitals should have a firm impression of their catchment areas and the populations their system serves.

“That may impel you to collaborate with other centers that have maybe a broader population,” he said. “Having an understanding of what your patient population looks like is very important…[because] when you’re doing these clinical studies [and] you put the data out there, it may not be as relevant as it should be.”

References

1. Key statistics for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). American Cancer Society. January 13, 2026. Accessed February 9, 2026. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/acute-myeloid-leukemia/about/key-statistics.html