What a whirlwind week! It was wonderful to see so many of you at AACR in San Diego and, of course, it was one of the most exciting and eventful meetings in recent memory with all the amazing data around RAS. But there’s other things to pay attention to, as well.
One thing that stood out to me and my colleagues was a presentation showing that the number of unique sites conducting Phase 1 lung cancer trials contracted in the U.S., although they remained stable at the top 20 institutions. This is pretty consistent with what I’d seen in my reporting over the last year. Directors of major comprehensive cancer centers told me they were able to buffer any financial impact from affecting clinical trials.
Nonetheless, Brittany Avin McKelvey from the LUNGevity Foundation noted in a statement that her team’s analysis suggested a trend of consolidation of clinical trials towards major centers, which could lead to more limited access to trials. As VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center director Robert Winn said at the STAT event this week, those trials are so important for cancer patients as the continuation of care once standard treatments have failed.
As we’ve seen just incredible progress in cancer this week at AACR, the challenge of how to get all that innovation to everyone remains.
No comments