WCLC 2025 - Posters & ePosters-P3.16.23 Facilitators to Patient Advocacy Group-Led Engagement of Diverse, Community, Clinical Sites in Multiple Research Types

P3.16.23 Facilitators to Patient Advocacy Group-Led Engagement of Diverse, Community, Clinical Sites in Multiple Research Types

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This study by Ciupek et al. evaluates a patient advocacy group (PAG)-led model for recruiting diverse, community-based clinical sites into multiple types of lung cancer research studies. Historically, only about 8% of U.S. cancer patients enroll in clinical trials due to geographic mismatches—80% receive care in community settings, while most trials occur at academic centers. The PAG, GO2 for Lung Cancer, facilitated site recruitment using a “targeted proactive outreach campaign” across five lung cancer studies (including non-interventional biospecimen collection, implementation feasibility, and provider training evaluation) from 2022 to 2025. The GO2 team identified potential sites from their informal network of lung cancer screening and care centers (GO2 Centers of Excellence) using institutional, self-reported, and public data to target sites likely meeting eligibility criteria.<br /><br />Results showed that 15 sites opened for patient accrual, reflecting diverse community settings with varying socioeconomic statuses measured by the Area Deprivation Index. The main reasons for sites declining participation included insufficient staffing, limited bandwidth, and poor fit or interest in the study topic. The study demonstrated that this PAG-led engagement model effectively reached demographically diverse, community-based centers across different research types. The authors recommend further exploration of this model to enhance research participant diversity. They also advocate for strategies that provide local staffing support, decentralize study activities, reduce site burden, and tailor outreach to match local programmatic priorities to improve clinical site recruitment. This approach holds promise for addressing disparities in clinical trial access by bringing research opportunities closer to where patients receive care.<br /><br />References include prior research demonstrating trial participation barriers and validation of the Area Deprivation Index as a socioeconomic measure.

Asset Subtitle

Andrew Ciupek

Meta Tag

Speaker Andrew Ciupek

Topic Patient Advocacy

Keywords

patient advocacy group

lung cancer research

clinical trial recruitment

community-based clinical sites

diversity in clinical trials

GO2 for Lung Cancer

Area Deprivation Index

site recruitment strategies

clinical trial access disparities

decentralized study activities