Research Staff Perspectives on Cancer Clinical Trials and Barriers to Recruitment: A Qualitative Research

Study objectives-Highlight common barriers to recruiting adults' cancer patients, encountered by research coordinators from all disease sites-Propose effective solutions to identified barriers.Results We are reporting our results of a qualitative research methodology investigating barriers to clinical trials enrollment from a new perspective. The most commonly reported obstacles, for clinical trials enrollment, from our research staff perspective were categorized into five themes: clinical trials protocol, communication barriers and cultural beliefs, financial barriers, patients' comorbidities and performance status, and physicians’ commitment. Assessing barriers encountered by clinical research staff is infrequently used as a metric for improving clinical trial enrollment, but provides important perspective. Interventions to improve clinical trial feasibility and accrual are critical to improve cancer care.

Adolescent and young adult neuro-oncology: a comprehensive review

Adolescent and young adult (AYA; ages 15-39) patients represent a population that experiences significant challenges in cancer care and research, exemplified by poorer clinical outcomes as well as unmet psychosocial and reproductive health needs. Despite central nervous system (CNS) tumors being one of the most common malignancies diagnosed in the age group, there is a clear paucity of AYA CNS tumor-specific publications, especially those related to the unique psychosocial and reproductive health needs of this population of patients. In this review, we examine various aspects of AYA oncological care including tumor biology, clinical outcome, clinical trials enrollment rate, site of care, unique psychosocial needs, and oncofertility. We assess the current state of these issues, highlight areas of deficiencies, and outline the steps needed to address these concerns. We emphasize the importance of comprehensive molecular testing as part of the diagnostic work-up, expansion of clinical trial availability, access to psychosocial care and oncofertility expertise, and the development of AYA-specific clinical research to define best practices and advancing care for this population.