When it comes to metastatic breast cancer, clinical trials are the way we find new drugs, better therapeutic targets, and, hopefully, more time. There are many issues with how clinical trials are designed, who they recruit and who is excluded, but one of the most difficult to confront at least here in the US has been the failure of the entire system to address how Black women and men with MBC are so much less likely than non-Black patients to be on a clinical trial.
Systemic racism has many tentacles and today’s Black advocates and their allies are forcing transparency and change when it comes to clinical trials. This episode of Our MBC Life puts the focus on what we know is happening, why it happens, and actions to break down barriers to the best possible care.
Co-hosts Sheila Pettiford, Martha Carlson, and Natalia Green, who also serves as OMBCL Executive Producer, took the Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance BECOME project as the jumping off point. Led by advocate Stephanie Walker, BECOME found that only 36% of Black survey respondents received as much information about clinical trials as they wanted even though over 80% were likely to consider joining a trial. This failure to communicate is one of the first barriers that needs to be overcome, but Black women and men with MBC were also found to have significant concerns around access and trust that differed from non-Black survey respondents. Stephanie is also the lead of the Black Wo(Men) Speak Symposium, held the day prior to SABCS on December 5, which brings together Black-led advocacy organizations, with the MBCA, oncologists, industry, and nonprofits to address these issues head on. In this episode, Stephanie Walker talks about the BECOME findings and OMBCL uses her words to guide our interviews.
We also talk to Rev. Dr. Tawana Davis for the Black patient perspective on clinical trials and MBC. Rev. Dr. Davis was on an immunotherapy clinical trial for about 1 year, ending in 2018, following her initial treatment. Our last guest is Valarie Worthy, MSN, RN, a Patient Navigator at Duke Cancer Institute, co-founder of TOUCH, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance, and 23-year cancer survivor.
There is a lot of thought-provoking conversation in this episode. Make sure to follow the links below to learn more about our guests and their work.
BECOME Project and Stephanie Walker
https://www.mbcalliance.org/projects/become/
https://www.mbcalliance.org/black-women-speak/
Rev. Dr. Tawana Davis
Valarie Worthy, MSN, RN
http://www.dukecancerinstitute.org