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Why Everyone With Cancer Should Consider a Clinical Trial:

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The sad truth is that very few patients with cancer volunteer for a clinical trial.  The majority of people with cancer who join a clinical trial are white.  This means that researchers only learn how safe and effective new drugs are in only this group of people.  In cancer research, it is important to have people from all races and ethnicities represented in clinical trials.  This way doctors will know if the new drug is safe and works well for all people. Our goal with DISRUPT is to create equity and justice so that patients from diverse racial and ethnic groups benefit from new drugs.

The Importance of Diverse Study Participants

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Diversity.

The way people react to cancer drugs and treatment is different from one person to the next. This is because of the differences in our biology and genes, the environment we have been exposed to, and our lifestyle behaviors like smoking tobacco or drinking alcohol.  That is why is so very important to have members of all communities join clinical trials.   

Participating in a clinical trial is always voluntary and individuals choose to participate for a variety of reasons. Some people may want to receive access to new or experimental treatments that may not yet be available through standard medical care. 

 

There are also many reasons why people do not want to join a clinical trial.  The most unfortunate of these reasons is mistrust of the medical system, the drug companies, or the researchers.  People often say they do not want to be a “guinea pig.”  They feel that the medical system does not care about them and wants to use them for someone else's benefit. 

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Next section:


The History of
Medical Mistrust

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