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June 3rd, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda SUNDAY, June 3 (HealthDay News) — Low-income cancer patients are
less likely to participate in clinical trials, according to a new study
that found income affects participation even among older patients likely
to have Medicare.
The researchers said patients may not have equal access to study
enrollment.
The research was scheduled for presentation Sunday at the American
Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting, in Chicago.
“This is the first time in a large, national study that we have actual
patient-reported income on which to base this finding,” study lead author
Joseph Unger, a health services researcher and statistician with the SWOG
Statistical Center at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, in
Seattle, said in a society news release. “Our study found that after
accounting for all factors such as age, education, sex, race, medical
conditions and distance to a clinic, income on its own was associated with
a patient’s clinical trial participation.”
Patients participating in clinical trials tend to receive high-quality
cancer care, while contributing to researchers’ understanding of cancer
and the development of new treatments, the U.S. National Cancer Institute
says.
The researchers surveyed approximately 5,500 adults recently diagnosed
with breast, lung, colon, or prostate cancer about their treatment
decisions over the course of four years. Forty percent had discussed
clinical trials with their doctor, and 45 percent of these discussions led
to an offer for participation in a clinical trial, the study found. Of
these offers, about half led to participation in a clinical trial for an
overall participation rate of 9 percent.
Patients with a reported annual income of less than $50,000 were
roughly 30 percent less likely to participate in a clinical trial than
those who had a higher income, the researchers found. And patients who
made less than $20,000 a year were 44 percent less likely to be involved
in clinical trials than patients with higher incomes.
Lower-income patients, the study showed, were more concerned about how
to pay for their participation in a clinical trial than higher-income
patients. The researchers suggested some possible financial barriers might
be direct costs, such as co-pays, and indirect costs, such as having to
take time off work.
Because this study was presented at a medical meeting, the data and
conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a
peer-reviewed journal.
More information
The U.S. National Cancer Institute has more about cancer health disparities.
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