Sumanta Pal: Proud of this project on two levels

Sumanta Pal, Professor in the Department of Medical Oncology at City of Hope Medical Center, shared a post by Hedyeh Ebrahimi, Postdoctoral Fellow at Genitourinary Cancer Research Team, on X and added:

“So proud of this project on 2 levels:

1. It showcases the hard work of our superstar City of Hope fellow Hedyeh Ebrahimi,
2.  It showcases OUTSTANDING mentorship from our junior faculty member Alex Chehrazi-Raffle.

In this piece (reflecting a collaboration with Association of Cancer Care Centers and Genentech), they survey multiple clinical sites and dig deep into barriers related to clinical trial implementation.

Read the Tweetorial below and follow the link to the full paper here.”

Quoting Hedyeh Ebrahimi’s post:

“Hot off the presses JAMA Network Open! We assessed the unique challenges that community cancer centers face to engage in oncology clinical trials in collaboration with the Association of Cancer Care Centers and Genentech under the mentorship of Alex Chehrazi-Raffle.

Previous studies have shown most patients with cancer receive care at community centers and willing to participate in clinical trial. However <5% receive care within context of clinical trial. We assessed contributing factors in a national survey among 58 cancer centers from 25 states.

While >90% of centers conducted research studies:

• Phase 1 trials were offered less frequently than phase 2or3 trials,
• Phase 1 trials were offered more frequently at urban and higher volume centers,
• Industry-sponsored trials were more prevalent at academic and higher volume centers.

• 79% of cites refer patients for trials, most often due to:

– Disease progression or patients request

• Most common barriers for referral:

– Difficulty in care coordination or lengthy wait times.

Next phase of this study:

– Customizing training and admin support to raise accessibility, esp in regions historically with little access to clinical trials.

Huge thanks to ACCC for conducting this study and to the cancer centers that participated in this project. Forever grateful to my mentors Alex Chehrazi-Raffle, Sumanta K. Pal and our phenomenal research team at City of Hope.”

Source: Sumanta Pal/X and Hedyeh Ebrahimi/X