Low participation rates and disparities in participation in interventional clinical trials for myelodysplastic syndromes

Abstract

Background: The development of novel therapies for the myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) is hampered by inadequate trial recruitment. Factors contributing to low trial accrual are incompletely understood. Methods: This study analyzed a pooled patient database from institutions of the US MDS Clinical Research Consortium to compare the characteristics of participants in interventional trials with those of patients who did not enroll in a trial. Results: Data were identified for 1919 patients with MDS, and 449 of these patients (23%) participated in an interventional clinical trial. The median age of all patients was 68 years, and 64% were male. Patients who participated in trials were significantly younger than nonparticipants (P =.014), and men were more likely to participate in a trial (71% of trial participants were male, whereas 61% of nonparticipants were; P