Marjory Charlot, MD, MPH, MSc

Testing a mobile health app to promote participation of black women in breast cancer clinical trials.

Impact

Black women in the United States are much more likely to die from their breast cancer when compared to all other racial and ethnic groups. There are many factors influencing this disparity, including a lack of representation in clinical trials. Clinical trials are essential for advancing cancer treatments, improving survival, and providing access to new therapies; but advances resulting from clinical trials are not felt equitably when diverse groups are not represented in the patient enrollment. Research has shown that Black patients are just as willing to enroll in clinical trials when informed about them and asked to participate. Poor patient-provider communication and lack of culturally competent clinical trial information are two major factors that contribute to their underrepresentation in trials. For her Conquer Cancer Advanced Clinical Research Award, supported by BCRF, Dr. Charlot and her team will develop, refine, and test a mobile app designed to prepare Black women with breast cancer to engage in discussions with their providers about clinical trials as a treatment option.

Progress Thus Far

Dr. Charlot and her team are working closely with Black patients and their communities- in developing and assessing the app, . In the past year the team established an advisory council of six Black women with breast cancer, ranging from the age of 35 to 77, to serve as research partners to engage in all aspects of the study. The study is called Sisters CREATE (Cancer Research Equity & Advocacy Through Engagement) and the advisory council members are known as the LEGACY Partners (Lived Experiences Guiding research advocacy). Together, they developed an interview guide for the first part of this research study and in the last year, they completed the interviews with a total of 20 women. The team then leveraged the information obtained from these conversations to guide the design and creation of the app. Initial of the planned 20 women. testing by Black women with breast cancer is underway to assess its ease of use and determine is the look and feel of the app is acceptable.

What’s next

Refinements to the app will be made as needed in response to the testing sample and followed by further testing a pilot randomized clinical trial to determine if the app helps increase conversations about clinical trials between patients with breast cancer and their doctors. The result of this unique collaboration between Sisters Create and the Legacy partners will ultimately lead to the use of the app in larger studies at two cancer hospitals.

Black patients are just as willing to join a research study if their doctors tell them about the study and then ask them to join.