COMPRENDO-A: Peer-Navigation to Improve Accrual of Adolescents with cancer into Clinical Trials

Cancer Equities, Pediatric Cancer

Paula Aristizabal, MD, MAS (Rady Children’s Hospital)

Jesse Nodora, DrPH (UCSD)

While Hispanic youth will comprise 33% of the U.S. population by 2030 and have higher incidence of cancers, their participation in cancer research
is critically low, and they have poorer survival rates than non-Hispanic Whites. The goal of this Curebound Equity award is to increase adolescent Hispanic participation in cancer clinical trials. We will implement a navigation intervention in which trained adolescent peers deliver culturally concordant education to Hispanic adolescents during recruitment for cancer clinical trials. This is significant because by increasing minority participation in clinical trials, we can translate discoveries and treatment benefits equally, and, ultimately, improve equity of survival among underserved Hispanics. This study has a particular impact in San Diego and California, where Hispanics are the fastest growing racial-ethnic group and are projected to comprise 50% of the population.

“As a Hispanic physician-scientist, I have witnessed firsthand the disparities in access to cancer care, particularly among our minority Hispanic populations. My goal is to provide the same opportunities to all children and adolescents with cancer, regardless of their background. Hispanics are significantly underrepresented in cancer clinical trials; we need effective interventions to overcome this very low clinical trial participation. This Curebound Equity grant is instrumental to help reduce health disparities in Hispanic adolescents with cancer and lays the foundation for future interventions to change the course of cancer research and care for underserved communities in San Diego.” – Paula Aristizabal, MD, MAS