This is part of the "Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos: 2022 Conference Proceedings," which summarizes findings and discussions of the 2022 Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos Conference on Feb. 23-25, 2022, in San Antonio, Texas.
Novel Therapeutic Approach to Reduce Health Disparity in B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in Hispanic/Latino Children
Dr. Sinisa Dovat is Professor of Pediatrics, Pharmacology, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine. He is also Four Diamond Endowed Chair and Director of Translational Research and Experimental Therapeutics in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Penn State University. B-Cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and Hispanic children B-Cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) ...
We all want the best for our children. While the thought of enrolling your child in a clinical trial may sound scary, but there are plenty of benefits to trial participation. Some of these benefits include diagnosing, preventing, treating, and sometimes even curing childhood diseases. However, there are some potential risks to trial participation, too. Here’s everything you need to know about enrolling your child in a clinical trial.
What is a Clinical Trial?
Clinical trials are studies with volunteers that help researchers learn how to slow, manage, and treat different diseases. There are different kinds of clinical trials with different intended purposes. There are also four phases of clinical trials that each help scientists answer different ...
Clinical trials are the most safe, rigorous way of testing for new and more effective disease treatments. Although Latinos comprise 18.9% of the US population, they make up just 10% of participants in clinical trials run by the National Cancer Institute and 4% of drug trials run by the FDA. This massive underrepresentation of Latinos in clinical trials makes it hard for researchers to develop new treatments for this group, which suffers a heavy burden of cancer, Alzheimer’s, and other diseases. Further, diseases present differently in Latinos than White populations – who traditionally make up most clinical trial participants. For example, Latinos on average present symptoms of Alzheimer’s approximately seven years earlier than other racial and ethnic groups, and are ...
When asked about achievements in her life, Diana Lopez of San Antonio, Texas, didn’t have to think long about her answer. Surviving cancer. Lopez was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 42. Like many of those who are diagnosed, it was a shock to Lopez and her loved ones. “At the time I was scared because you think, they tell you, ‘You have cancer’ and you are like, ‘I’m going to die,’” Lopez said. With the help of a clinical trial – a study with volunteers that helps researchers learn how to slow, manage, and treat diseases like cancer –Lopez stayed strong and continued to fight, no matter the obstacle.
A Cancer Diagnosis and its Impact
Lopez discovered a lump on her breast. At first, she thought nothing of it. “I wasn’t hurting or anything. It ...
Timothy Leech just celebrated his 40th birthday when he got news that changed his life. Timothy was diagnosed with Stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer, in 2014. Doctors told him he had only a short time to live. “I freaked out, for sure. I thought I was going to be gone real quick,” Timothy said. But, today, eight years later, Timothy is a cancer survivor. He credits his wife, Katie Leech, his medical team, and a clinical trial for getting him to where he is today – not entirely cancer-free but “so small that it’s immeasurable.” A clinical trial is a research study that helps researchers learn more to help slow, manage, and treat diseases like cancer. “It was very much like, this [clinical trial] is the last roll of the dice here,” ...
Clinical trials can help researchers learn to better treat asthma – but they need diverse volunteers. Black and Latino children who have severe asthma, are prone to asthma attacks, and live in low-income urban neighborhoods are underrepresented in asthma treatment clinical trials, even though they are more likely than whites to face health inequities that can exacerbate asthma symptoms. Fortunately, a recent National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded clinical trial with mostly Black and Latino children found that a monoclonal antibody – mepolizumab – can decrease asthma attacks by 27%. Antibodies are made naturally in the body to fight infection. A monoclonal antibody is made in the laboratory and administered to patients to treat a variety of diseases and infections, ...
Willie Heard is a man of faith. His faith stood strong even after he got tragic news in September 2013. Heard was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a group of bone marrow cancers in which the bone marrow does not produce enough healthy blood cells. His cancer diagnosis came just months after retiring from his job at USAA and just shy of his 67th birthday. “I’m a religious person and a minister and, I think I remember telling the doctor, I said, ‘Doctor you do what you do, I’m gonna let God do what he does,’” said Heard, a resident of San Antonio, Texas. “[The cancer diagnosis] was a surprise to me, but I’ve always been a person that don’t really worry about stuff I can’t control, so I don’t let that bother me.”
Heard’s Decision to ...
Leonel Rodriguez got some terrible news in November 2019. Doctors diagnosed Rodriguez, a South Texas resident, with mantle cell lymphoma – an aggressive, rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. After going through several treatment options, his disease persisted. He soon learned about a potentially beneficial clinical trial for lymphoma patients at the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio. Clinical trials help researchers learn how to better slow, manage, and treat diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s. “[Clinical trials were] the best way because, you know, I feel good now with the treatment,” Rodriguez said. “Now I feel I've been feeling well, and well, well.”
Rodriguez’s Decision to Participate in a Clinical Trial
Rodriguez first experienced problems in ...
Clinical trials can have big benefits. They help researchers learn more to help slow, manage, and treat Alzheimer’s and cancer for ourselves and our abuelos, moms, dads, and others we love. So then why don't many Latinos join? To address this issue, you’re invited to join our Zoom webinar — Why Should I Think about Joining a Clinical Trial? — at 6 p.m. CT on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. Webinar speakers Dr. Adolfo Diaz Duque of UT Health San Antonio and Dr. Bárbara Segarra-Vázquez of the University of Puerto Rico will help health care professionals and the Latino public understand clinical trial processes, explore trials as treatment options, and share testimonials of real Latinos who have benefited from trials. Panelists will also cover the barriers that prevent ...
