Initiating Improvements in Access and Diversity in Clinical Trials for Patients With Multiple Myeloma

At the 2023 Great Debates & Updates in Hematologic Malignancies meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. Monique Hartley-Brown, MD, MMSc, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, discusses initiatives to improve diversity and accessibility in trials for patients with multiple myeloma (MM), and advises on strategies to pursue these objectives.

Transcript:

Hi, my name is Dr. Monique Hartley-Brown, and there [is a] new initiative that I really think [is] extremely important that I want to mention, and that is improving diversity in clinical trials as well as access to clinical trial therapies for our patients in underrepresented populations as well as [in] remote areas. 

I think we are working with several entities to ensure that this is something that is improved upon over the next few years, including working with the [Food and Drug Administration] (FDA) and working with some of these larger institutions such as the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.

I am working at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and trying to combine regionally with other centers, for example, within the Boston area, to ensure that we improve our diversity of patient participation in clinical trials, and also partnering with other entities across the nation that have access to diverse patient population so that we can partner together and improve our clinical trial efforts. 

A good example of that is the DETERMINATION trial (NCT01208662) [which] was allowed to have up to almost 20% African-American[s] included in the population, and that was because of that wonderful work with other colleagues across the nation.

For my colleagues in the community who are interested in offering the patients clinical trials and also offering them novel therapies, reach out to our academic institutions. We are eager to collaborate and find ways to work with you so that we can optimize our patient care and allow them access to all of these therapies, including clinical trial therapies.

Source: 

Hartley-Brown, M. Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma: Novel and Cellular Therapies in 2023. Presented at the Great Debates and Updates in Hematologic Malignancies Meeting; August 17-19, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts.