Ten-year patterns of women participating in treatment clinical trials for cancer

BackgroundAchieving representative participation of women in clinical trials has been challenging. To understand the impact of federal policies aimed at addressing this issue, we analyzed women’s participation in cancer trials at our institution.MethodsIn this retrospective observational study, we quantified participation of women across cancer treatment clinical trials at the Abramson Cancer Center (ACC) from 2012-2022. Deidentified data were available from 9,639 women and 8,225 men aged > = 18 years with cancer/pre-cancer and enrolled in a cancer treatment clinical trial. Cancers largely affecting one sex were excluded. Participation rates for each cancer were compared to sex incidence rates nationally and in our catchment area.ResultsThe percentage of women participating in cancer studies at ACC was 54% +/- 5.7% (mean +/- SD, range 43.3% to 66.0%). Women participation was similar to national incidence for all cancers except ENT and neurologic (by ≥5%), and thyroid (by ≤5%). Compared to our catchment area, women participated more in neurologic and less in pancreas and thyroid; compared to ACC patients, less in liver.ConclusionsWhen subdivided by cancer, over 10 years and a pandemic, women were equitably represented in clinical trials at our cancer center compared to all benchmarks, achieving the goals of federal mandates and our institution.