The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center will serve as the lead institution for a clinical-trials network (CTN) that will offer new cancer treatments (clinical trials) to minority patients at two new sites. Those sites are Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) Hospital of Harris County, Texas, and the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston County, Texas. LBJ, is a public hospital that sees a high number of minorities (53.6% Hispanic, 25.3% Black/African American). About 54% of those patients are uninsured. UTMB, provides health care for low-income and medically underserved people in Galveston County. Their patient group is 26% minority and 15.5% uninsured. Leaders from all 3 sites...

Read More

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center will serve as the lead institution for a clinical-trials network (CTN) that will offer new cancer treatments (clinical trials) to minority patients at two new sites. Those sites are Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) Hospital of Harris County, Texas, and the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston County, Texas. LBJ, is a public hospital that sees a high number of minorities (53.6% Hispanic, 25.3% Black/African American). About 54% of those patients are uninsured. UTMB, provides health care for low-income and medically underserved people in Galveston County. Their patient group is 26% minority and 15.5% uninsured. Leaders from all 3 sites want to increase the number of Black or Hispanic patients at LBJ and UTMB who take part in the clinical trials that offer new cancer treatments. The overall goal for the CTN project is to build a network to help patients at LBJ and UTMB (who may not know about or have access to clinical trials) to find and enroll in these possibly-lifesaving trials. The trials will either use chemotherapies or treatments that activate the patient’s immune system to test how effective the treatment is and to identify potential side effects of the treatments, or they will compare a new treatment to the one currently used. The CTN project will pay (reimburse) patients for some of their non-medical costs related to trial participation. As well, a patient navigator will educate, guide, and answer questions for each patient before and during each trial. If successful, the CTN will be extended to patients at The University of Texas at Tyler and the Dell Seton Medical Center at The University of Texas, Austin. Of the people living in Tyler, 22% are Black. Of the people who live in Austin, about 30% are Hispanic and 8% are Black/African American. These groups often live in lower-income areas and are frequently not aware of clinical trials that may be available to help with their cancer treatment.

Read Less