Patient-Centered Strategies to Increase Participation in Cancer Clinical Trials

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. Clinical trials have become the gold standard for advancing cancer research. However, enrollment and population representativeness in cancer trials have been a challenge, causing significant generalizability issues. To improve the generalizability of study findings researchers should find innovative ways to increase patient participation in cancer clinical trials. One strategy is to involve patients in medical decision-making but often, patients struggle to understand health information well enough to effectively assess the risks and benefits of participation. This research is a qualitative study intended to explore what foundational actions are being carried out at a rudimentary level to support future advances in patient-centered decision support to increase participation in cancer clinical trials.