The White House is trying to revamp clinical trials for new cancer treatments, especially to find more patients for them.
The new steps were announced Friday by Vice President Joe Biden and part of the Obama administration’s cancer moonshot, which aims to compress 10 years worth of cancer research into five years.
Clinical trials are used to determine whether a drug is safe or effective and are essential to win approval from the Food and Drug Administration. About 31 percent of all open trials are registered and listed with the federal government.
However, participation is low.
About 21 percent of clinical trials for cancer are not completed because of low participation, according to a White House statement.
In addition, “less than 5 percent of cancer patients enroll in a clinical trial, often because patients and doctors don’t know what trials are available,” Biden said Friday.
“Clinical trial participation is even lower for cancer patients who do not receive treatment at academic medical centers, and for older, underserved minority populations,” the statement said.
The White House is trying to improve a website, trials.cancer.gov, to help researchers and patient groups to better identify which trials are for certain cancers. The goal is to make it easier for researchers to find new patients for trials that can make a difference for them.
Other steps include making clinical trial results more transparent and help people make “more informed decisions about participating in research,” the statement said.
The clinical trial reforms are part of a larger effort by the moonshot. A task force recently identified 10 recommendations for the administration to pursue, which include finding a new way to overcome cancer’s resistance to therapy and minimize the side effects of cancer treatments.
