Global News

Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) has announced four teams that will focus on increasing diversity in early phase cancer clinical trials. The scheme is sponsored by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, and aims to address the need to engage underserved communities in phase 1 and 2 clinical trials.

The goals of the new teams include addressing cancer disparities and encouraging the development of new treatments with the potential to benefit its patients.

The Diversity in Early Development Clinical Trials Program, part of SU2C’s Health Equity Initiative, includes research teams from Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, all in the US. The teams are aiming to address specific issues in their local region while sharing information to ensure a broader outreach.

According to data from the FDA in 2020, 73% of cancer trial patients are white, 14% are Asian, 6% are Hispanic and only 5% are Black, so an increased level of diversity is evidently needed in trials.

Russell Chew, president and CEO of SU2C, commented: “In the United States, cancer clinical trial participation remains significantly lower for people of diverse race and ethnicity, and for people in medically underserved communities. The lack of diverse involvement in therapy development makes it challenging for the healthcare industry to provide evidence-based treatments for all cancer patients. We are grateful to collaborate with Janssen on this vital effort, with the shared goal of achieving equity for everyone impacted by cancer.”

Jeffrey Infante MD, global head of Oncology Early Clinical Development and Translational Research at Janssen Research & Development, LLC, added: “Our goal in sponsoring SU2C is to enable innovative research teams to develop initiatives at the community level that have a measurable impact on enhancing access to and engagement in cancer clinical trials. We look forward to seeing the results of these programmes so we can continue to help improve health equity and develop therapies and clinical programmes that benefit patients with cancer.”