Study: Cancer Patients and Their Families Frustrated with Slow Pace of Drug and Treatment Innovation

BOSTON, Aug. 31, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- COTA, Inc., an oncology real-world data and analytics company, announced findings from a study that found 66 percent of cancer patients and their immediate families surveyed think that the speed of clinical trials aimed at driving much-needed innovations in cancer treatments and therapies remains far too slow. The study, which surveyed 1,110 Americans¹ who've either had cancer or who've had someone in their immediate family with cancer, also found that the recent rapid development of multiple COVID-19 vaccines heightened this belief.

"Operation Warp Speed" — the successful effort to fast-track creation and adoption of vaccines for COVID-19 — has further reinforced the expectation that cancer drug and treatment development can be accelerated. In fact, approximately half of all study respondents indicated that this initiative has specifically made them believe that the cancer treatment and drug development process can and should be faster. Those respondents that had cancer themselves were even more likely to note that Operation Warp Speed shifted their expectations to think the process should be faster (60 percent).

"As an oncologist, I have seen firsthand how devastating a cancer diagnosis is for a patient and their family," said CK Wang, Chief Medical Officer at COTA, Inc. "It is hard to not look back and question whether some of my patients would have survived had innovations specific to cancer care and treatment been accelerated through highly focused funding, research, technology, and innovative collaborations like those prioritized for the COVID-19 vaccine."

Overall cancer rates are declining, but specific populations and types of cancer remain adversely impacted

While recent data shows an overall decline in cancer deaths in men, women, and children of all racial and ethnic groups in the United States between 2014 and 2018, the reality is that specific types of cancers and targeted populations of patients are actually seeing an increase. For example, the incidences of cancer in women, children, adolescents, and young adults have actually risen.

Adding fuel to the fire, populations such as Black Americans continue to have the highest death rate and shortest survival of any racial and ethnic group in the U.S. for most cancers — and they also have some of the lowest representation in clinical trials. However, in the COTA study, an overwhelming 82 percent of respondents who are familiar with the clinical trial process believe that it is already inclusive of diverse populations today. Unfortunately, it clearly is not.

"What has been reinforced by the pandemic and what we already know from advanced cancer research, is that — despite what patients may believe — not all people are equally represented in cancer clinical trials — and that has to change," added Wang.

This lack of representation and ongoing increase in cases among specific populations reinforces why the Biden Administration continues to push for innovation specific to cancer, including its most recent call for a $9 billion increase in funding for the National Institutes of Health. $6.5 billion of this funding would be earmarked to back a new institute, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. This institute would look for out-of-the-box approaches to addressing challenges associated with cancer, including the impact on populations that have not been prioritized for cancer clinical trials to date — such as Black Americans.

Patients believe their personal health data could help cure cancer

Despite some critics' concerns with health data privacy and security, the COTA study also found that almost all of the survey respondents — nearly 90 percent — support all cancer patients sharing their health data anonymously for advancing treatment research and discovery. Given the fact that it takes seven or more years to create a new drug or treatment for cancer, different approaches to accelerating innovation — like utilizing real-world data from cancer patients — are much-needed.

Gwen Nichols, MD, is the Chief Medical Officer with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). As a leader for the world's largest voluntary health agency dedicated to fighting blood cancer, she shared her perspective on what LLS is hearing from patients on this topic: "Sharing anonymized personal health data gives patients a sense of control and allows them to contribute to the greater good. Given growing concerns related to an uptick in cancer cases due to delayed treatments and screenings — as well as the significant impact of COVID-19 on blood cancer patients in particular — it is critical for cancer patients to take an active and collaborative role in solving for cancer treatments and cures moving forward."

Other notable study findings include:

• 87 percent indicated they wouldn't care if their data had already been anonymously shared;
• 86 percent believe oncologists should be actively discussing the value of sharing data with researchers as part of patient interactions;
• 85 percent would agree to share their anonymous data if asked by their doctor; and
• 53 percent of respondents believe that a cure for cancer would already be available if all cancer patient data were collected and combined.

While a majority of patients clearly understand the value and importance of sharing personal health data to help advance cancer care and treatments, many also reported that oncologists have not discussed this topic with them. In fact, less than half of respondents reported their oncologist discussed the value of anonymously sharing cancer data.

"As technology and smart, standardized data practices have advanced, patients have clearly become more understanding and willing to contribute their data to the greater good. Clinicians have an important role to play in encouraging patients to be part of the solution to accelerating cancer innovation," said Wang. "The more real-world data we have from cancer patients, the more successful we will be in building treatments and therapies that save lives."

Methodology

The survey was conducted by PureSpectrum, an independent market research platform that gathers insights via online, nonprobability samples collected from panels in the PureSpectrum Marketplace. For more information on PureSpectrum's methodology, visit purespectrum.com.

About COTA, Inc.
Founded by oncologists, COTA is committed to creating a precise, patient-first approach to cancer care through the use of real-world data. The company leverages technology-supported human data abstraction methods to make sense of complex, fragmented patient data from the real world. Offering the highest quality oncology real-world data from leading academic and community-based cancer centers and an advanced analytics platform, COTA partners with leading life sciences companies, providers, and payers to ensure that everyone touched by cancer has a clear path to the right care. To learn more about COTA and how to fast-track improvements in cancer care and treatment with comprehensive and diverse real-world data and analytics, visit cotahealthcare.com. 

¹ Conducted in June 2021, the survey was led by independent research firm PureSpectrum, collecting data from 1,110 Americans who've either experienced cancer themselves or have had someone in their immediate household who has had cancer.

Media contact: Jaimee Ryan, [email protected]

SOURCE Cota

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