Joanna Metzner-Sadurski, President of Oncology101.org, Adjunct Professor at Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, shared on LinkedIn:
“Exciting sessions at the SWOG fall meeting with so much focus on clinical trials, health literacy, patient-reported outcomes, trust, accrual, and the importance of communicating in language patients can truly understand.
I am especially proud of the research commitment coming from our own community oncology practice. Ruiling Yuan serves on an NCI steering committee focused on bladder cancer, bringing the perspective of community oncology and our patients to the national level. And our program was recently honored by the National Cancer Institute with an NCORP Gold Certificate of Excellence for exceptional achievement in patient enrollment in NCI treatment and cancer control trials.
For a rural community cancer center, these connections matter. Our patients should not have to live near a major academic center to benefit from research, innovation, or a voice in how cancer care evolves.
But having a clinical trial available is not enough. Patients have to understand it, trust it, and feel prepared to participate. Health literacy plain language, patient-reported outcomes, and the patient voice must be part of clinical research from the beginning.
Words matter. Trust matters. Research matters. And bringing research to our communities matters.”
You can also read: Ruiling Yuan at COGC 2026: How Rural Oncology Can Turn Limits Into Better Care
