Hispanic Accrual on Randomized Cancer Clinical Trials: A Call to Arms
JCO May 19, 2014
The Hispanic population is the fastest growing demographic group in the United States and is expected to triple from 46.7 million to 132.8 million by 2050.1 Hispanics suffer from major health dispar- ities, and they have low participation in cancer screening and preven- tion programs and higher incidence rates for cancers of the cervix, stomach, liver, and gall bladder compared with non-Hispanic whites.1,2 Despite the compelling impact of cancer on Hispanics as evident from the death of 17,400 Hispanic men and 15,800 Hispanic women as a result of a malignancy in 2012 alone, the data on Hispanic enrollment onto practice-changing cancer clinical trials are negligible.
South Texas is the largest geographic region in Texas, about the size of Pennsylvania, and the population in this region is predomi- nantly of Hispanic ethnicity. Of note, 58% of the population of San Antonio—the largest city in South Texas—is Hispanic, although the upward trend (approaching 90%) of Hispanic population is evident in the region referred to as the Lower Rio Grande Valley, which is adja- cent to United States–Mexican border. The South Texas region has an area of 45,926 square miles, and the 2010 census report on demo- graphic distribution indicates that 67% of the region’s inhabitants are Hispanic compared with 28% non-Hispanic white in a total popula- tion of 4.49 million.3
To reduce the health care disparities of Hispanics, the National Cancer Institute– designated Cancer Center for South Texas, the Can- cer Therapy and Research Center (CTRC), has a strategic focus on improving the health care in the region by increasing participation of Hispanics in cancer clinical trials. The CTRC catchment area consists of 38 counties, 25 in rural areas and 13 in metropolitan areas of South Texas. Read More