Abstract 430: Perceptions among African Americans of prostate cancer and clinical trials: A focus group study
Authors: Baezconde-Garbanati Lourdes A. , Aristizabal Carolina , Suther Sandra , Webb Fern , Stern Mariana C. 
Published: July 2021

Background: A disproportionally higher risk of chronic conditions such as cancer occurs among African Americans compared to other racial or ethnic groups. Among them, prostate cancer remains the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths among African Americans, who are almost twice as likely to die of this disease compared to white men. In spite of this, in clinical trials for two of the most recent prostate cancer treatments, less than 10% of participants were African Americans. Improving clinical trial participation among African Americans is fundamental to reduce cancer health disparities knowing that their participation will significantly increase the state of knowledge regarding cancer treatment and survivability and ensure that African Americans can benefit from the newest therapies.

Methods: A qualitative study was conducted with a two focus group of African American men and women (N=24), aged &gt;50 who were cancer survivors, caregivers, and spouses of survivors from Los Angeles County. Focus groups were conducted virtually with one African American moderator for the women's group, and a male moderator for the men's group. The goal of these sessions was to assess participants' perceptions about cancer clinical trials, prostate cancer, and other health concerns, to identify leverage points to be used in future interventions to improve clinical trials participation rates.

Results: Study findings underline doctors, health magazines, and survivor and cancer support groups as preferred sources to obtain health information. Men were less familiar with clinical trials than women, with several men expressing concerns about clinical trial participation due to a historical lack of trust, mentioning the Tuskegee Study as example. Both African American men and women expressed the importance of addressing the psychological impact of cancer as stated by “There is no health without mental health”, and their level of knowledge about prostate cancer and cancer in general varied although most had become more knowledgeable once diagnosed. Presence and companionship of wives or significant others were described for both men and women as key for men's support (“going to doctors' appointments”, “talking about health concerns such as erectile disfunction”, “when we talk about the issue it becomes less scary”).

Conclusion: Cancer clinical trial participation among African Americans seems influenced by multiplicity of factors such as lack of trust, psychological impact of the disease, and family support. Addressing the lack of trust as well as the psychological impact of cancer in culturally sensitive ways may lead to improved perspectives about clinical trials, and facilitate and promote the participation of African Americans in clinical trials research. This in turn may help reduce the existing disparities in cancer survival in this population.

Citation Format: Lourdes A. Baezconde-Garbanati, Carolina Aristizabal, Sandra Suther, Fern Webb, Mariana C. Stern. Perceptions among African Americans of prostate cancer and clinical trials: A focus group study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 430.