How Can We Access to Oncology Patients

Over two thirds of people who are cancer patients and are newly diagnosed are unable to obtain oncology appointments. Uninsured patients have easier access to appointments while pre-appointment requirements hamper those who are privately insured. A requirement on the other hand for accessing the oncology patients is to ensure their participation in oncology clinical trials.

Access is Important
While oncology clinical trials can help improve the current treatments and therapies; carrying out such trials will require participation of patients voluntarily. Despite the benefits of such clinical trials, the participation levels are limited to only 3-5% of the people undergoing treatment. That is why access to oncology patients is important for carrying out the trials.

Important Facts About Access to Oncology Patients
Results that have been derived from studies about enrollment of cancer patients in clinical trials are inconsistent in nature. Some of the facts that have come out of such research are –
•  Reasons for participation of patients in oncology CRO were multiple.
•  Some people participated to help future cancer patients.
•  Others participate to advance medical science.
•  Decisions of around 47% people are motivated by these factors of advancing the medical science or helping out future cancer patients.
•  An important feature was also that participants in phase II and III trials were more altruistic than those participating in phase I trial.

Survival the Least Important Motivation
Survival however seemed to be the motivation in case of most of the phase I participants and not as important for the phase II and phase III participants as was revealed in research and analysis. Some other factors that also influenced the access to oncology clinical research were –
•  Age factor;
•  Sex factor;
•  Education levels of the prospective participants;
•  Their marital status;
•  Respondent types; and
•  Relapse status of the patients.

Research Results
One of the derivations that was common to most of the research works relating to access to oncology patients was that while altruism is one of the motivations for enrollment of patients in any oncology clinical research programs, there are also other reasons that motivate people to participate and opens out avenues for researchers in access to oncology patients. The experience inculcates huge benefit of understanding the preferences of the patient and binds them with the person who is investigating a strong insight about clinical studies. Well qualified investigators offers expert support during the trial period of time by accessing the quality data and accrual of the patients provided by the cancer patients suffering from critical health conditions.

For gaining easy access to oncology patients it is also necessary that the investigators have good clinical and site experiences since it is a matter of gaining confidence of the oncology patients who would then volunteer to participate.

Veeda oncology is specialized in treatment of oncology and engaged in oncology clinical trials and research for finding out new medicines and therapies to treat cancer.