Dr Howard K. Kaufman on the Need for More Diverse Populations in Clinical Trials

Clinical trials are critical for pushing the oncology field forward, but there is a need for not only more patients to participate in clinical trials, but for a more diverse population, Howard K. Kaufman, MD, FACS, chief surgical officer and associate director for clinical science at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey said at The American Journal of Managed Care’s Patient-Centered Oncology Care meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.

Rutgers has started a program specifically for recruitment and retention of patients in clinical trials, and in the process has begun to understand some of the barriers, especially for minorities, to go into trials.

“This is the most exciting time in the history of oncology, where we have so many new agents and new combinations to test, and I think it will be really important that the patient community also gets on board and is willing to test these studies,” he said.