Realizing the Bold Vision of Cancer Health Equity

• Realizing the Goals of the Cancer Moonshot. The primary goal of President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot is to reduce overall U.S. cancer death rates by 50% by 2047—and one of the primary ways to reach that goal is to eliminate cancer health disparities and ensure that all populations benefit from current and future advances against cancer. Recognizing the AACR’s leadership role in the fight against cancer disparities, Danielle Carnival, PhD— Deputy Director for Health Outcomes of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Deputy Assistant to the President for the Cancer Moonshot—opened the conference with a keynote address. Dr. Carnival highlighted the remarkable progress in disparities research but also challenged attendees to translate that accumulated knowledge into solutions for the disparate cancer outcomes among populations in the U.S.

Following the keynote, Camille C. R. Ragin, PhD, MPH, and Ernest T. Kaninjing, DrPH, MPH, took up Dr. Carnival’s challenge, chairing a Town Hall and Panel Discussion titled “Engaging Communities to Achieve the Goals of the Reignited Cancer Moonshot.”

• AACR Distinguished Lectureship on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities. Since 2010, this AACR award has elevated the field of disparities research by honoring an investigator whose novel and significant work has had or may have a far-reaching impact on the etiology, detection, diagnosis, treatment or prevention of cancer health disparities. The 2023 recipient, renowned prostate cancer researcher Folakemi T. Odedina, PhD, was honored for her work to eliminate disparities and diversify clinical trial populations. Dr. Odedina delivered her lecture during the opening session of the conference.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE KEYNOTE AND AWARD LECTURES AT THE CANCER HEALTH DISPARITIES CONFERENCE ON THE AACR BLOG, CANCER RESEARCH CATALYST

• Targeting Cancer in Indigenous Communities. A plenary session moderated by conference cochair Ronny A. Bell, PhD, MS, showcased the work of cancer researchers representing several distinct indigenous groups. Rodney C. Haring, PhD, MSW, Priscilla R. Sanderson, PhD, and Jeffrey A. Henderson, MPH, stressed the importance of collecting accurate health data on indigenous communities as well as culturally sensitive care in reducing the undue burden of cancer on these populations.
• Achieving Diversity in Clinical Trials. Conference cochair Augusto C. Ochoa, MD, and James H. Doroshow, MD, moderated a plenary session that emphasized the critical value of studying the effects of new cancer treatments in a balanced population. Mona Fouad, MD, MPH, Joaquina Celebre Baranda, MD, Lucile L. Adams-Campbell, PhD, and Raymond U. Osarogiagbon, MD, outlined strategies for increasing trial recruitment among minority populations that rely on community health workers, community outreach and engagement, decentralized trials, and community cancer centers.

READ A SUMMARY OF THE CANCER HEALTH DISPARITIES CONFERENCE ON THE AACR BLOG

• AACR Annual Meeting 2023. Under the leadership of program chair Robert H. Vonderheide, MD, DPhil, the AACR Annual Meeting offered a platform for the latest science focused on cancer health disparities and the latest strategies for translating that science into improved care for all patients. The meeting featured a robust Cancer Disparities track consisting of 18 sessions that addressed various aspects of health equity, including the following:

• Opening Plenary Session. The premier session of the AACR Annual Meeting 2023 showcased the work of social and molecular cancer epidemiologist Tomi Akinyemiju, PhD, who discussed “Centering Equity at the Frontiers of Cancer Care.”
• Diversity in Clinical Trials. The Annual Meeting educational program featured a three-part Methods Workshop series on Clinical Trial Design in a Diverse World. One session in the series, chaired by Ezra E. W. Cohen, MD, and Wendy B. London, PhD, addressed challenges in clinical trial enrollment.

BOOSTING DIVERSITY IN CLINICAL TRIALS: TRIAL DESIGN—READ A SUMMARY OF THIS WORKSHOP ON THE AACR BLOG



BOOSTING DIVERSITY IN CLINICAL TRIALS: COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT—READ A SUMMARY OF THIS WORKSHOP ON THE AACR BLOG


• Disparities and Cancer Outcomes. Lucile L. Adams-Campbell, PhD, chaired a session that examined how accumulated, chronic stress—often fueled by systemic racism—as well as genetic ancestry can be indicators of increased cancer risk and adverse health outcomes.

• AACR Project GENIE®. AACR Project GENIE® is an open-source, international, pancancer registry of real-world data assembled through data sharing between a cohort of leading international cancer centers. The registry leverages clinical sequencing efforts at participating cancer centers by pooling their data to create a collective evidence base. In 2023, Project GENIE® announced the addition of four new participating institutions that were chosen from candidate sites that regularly treat and sequence patients from underrepresented and underserved backgrounds. The addition of these new participating institutions—Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; Korea University Anam Hospital; Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans; and the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center—will dramatically expand the diversity of the patient data in the AACR Project GENIE® registry and enable more medically underserved populations to benefit from the power of precision medicine.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING

Through education, training, and research funding—and with leadership support from its Minorities in Cancer Research Council—the AACR works to ensure that the cancer health care workforce reflects the community it serves. In addition, AACR programs and initiatives examine the structural and systemic biases in the cancer research enterprise and work to eliminate them.

• Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials: Design and Implementation of Clinical Trials Workshop in Partnership with the AACR. Established in 2021, the Robert A. Winn Diversity in Clinical Trials Award Program is implemented by the AACR and Virginia Commonwealth University and funded by the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation to train 250 community-oriented clinical trial investigators by 2025. As part of the program, the AACR organizes an annual workshop on excellence in clinical trial implementation.

  Held in November and directed by Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, Priscilla Pemu, MD, Yu Shyr, PhD, and program namesake Robert A. Winn, MD, FAACR, the 2023 edition of the AACR workshop educated the participants about clinical trial design and research practice by presenting the ongoing challenges in clinical research; highlighting the benefits of focusing on clinical research, specifically in underrepresented populations; and investigating the disconnect between communities and clinical trialists.

• Advancing the Careers of Minority Faculty. With the generous support of the NCI Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities, the AACR has offered grants to enable full-time minority faculty members and faculty members of Minority-Serving Institutions to participate in the AACR Annual Meeting. In 2023, a total of 25 minority investigators working at the level of assistant professor or above received either an AACR Minority Scholar Award or a Minority-serving Institution Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research Award. For more than 25 years, the program has provided the education and training that are critical to sustaining a diverse pipeline of cancer scientists.
• Funding Meritorious Underrepresented Investigators. The AACR Grants Program funds meritorious scientists from diverse backgrounds that are underrepresented in the cancer research community—including women, individuals working in low- and middle-income countries, and members of racial or ethnic minority groups. In 2023, a total of 25 grants totaling more than $6.38 million were awarded to support diversity, equity, and inclusion, launching the careers of promising researchers that will drive progress against cancer for all patients.

• AACR Asian/Asian American Task Force. In pursuit of its mission to eliminate systemic biases in cancer research and diversify the cancer workforce, the AACR Board of Directors established a task force to increase engagement, understanding, and awareness of the issues facing Asian and Asian American cancer scientists and physicians and to expand the AACR’s leadership pipeline in this area. Under the leadership of chairperson William Pao, MD, PhD, the task force will work to build a robust global community of Asian/Asian American members within the AACR and to identify and address the challenges impacting that community.
• Advancing Disparities Research in the Face of Anti-DEI Laws. During the AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved—which took place in Orlando—conference cochair Sophia H. L. George, PhD, and Camille C. R. Ragin, PhD, MPH, chaired a special session that explored how laws passed recently in Florida and other states that ban funding for the promotion of or education about diversity, equity, and inclusion impact the cancer workforce. Luis G. Carvajal-Carmona, PhD, and Chanita Hughes-Halbert, PhD, joined the chairs in outlining strategies that universities and medical schools can use to advance equity among their students and faculty while complying with these regressive laws.

• Advancing Disparities Research in the Face of Anti-DEI Laws. During the AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved—which took place in Orlando—conference cochair Sophia H. L. George, PhD, and Camille C. R. Ragin, PhD, MPH, chaired a special session that explored how laws passed recently in Florida and other states that ban funding for the promotion of or education about diversity, equity, and inclusion impact the cancer workforce. Luis G. Carvajal-Carmona, PhD, and Chanita Hughes-Halbert, PhD, joined the chairs in outlining strategies that universities and medical schools can use to advance equity among their students and faculty while complying with these regressive laws.

READ A SUMMARY OF THIS SESSION FROM THE CANCER HEALTH DISPARITIES CONFERENCE ON THE AACR BLOG

PATIENT ADVOCACY AND POLICY

The AACR catalyzes progress toward health equity by disseminating critical information to legislators, regulators, and the cancer community; by calling for action on policies that can improve public health; and by amplifying the voices of patient advocates in its programs.

• Patient Advocates at the AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities. During the AACR Conference on Cancer Health Disparities in September, patient advocates actively participated in the program as speakers, panelists, and attendees. Aki Smith, founder of Hope for Stomach Cancer, opened the conference with a special keynote address. Ms. Smith founded the nonprofit after caring for her father, a Japanese immigrant who needed assistance navigating his treatment. She noted that factors such as language barriers and proximity to comprehensive cancer centers can drive disparities in cancer outcomes as much as ethnicity.

  In addition, Ivis C. Febus-Sampayo moderated a special session on “Advocacy at the Bench.” The session featured a panel discussion that highlighted patient advocacy efforts that are addressing barriers to diversity, equity, and inclusion and ensuring equitable opportunities for all patients with cancer.