Each day I meet with patients who have been given some of the worst news they may ever hear: You have cancer. It is an unfortunate truth that not all lives can be saved. However, with recent advancements in oncology care, survival rates have increased and allowed more than 600,000 Georgians to live beyond their cancer treatment.1 This improvement is directly correlated to advancements made through clinical trials.
Oncology is data-driven, and all cancer treatment is grounded in the data derived from clinical trials, including surgical treatments, radiation oncology treatments, and medical oncology therapies such as chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Cancer research through clinical trials is vital to improving longevity and quality of life for cancer patients, and we need more physicians and patients to consider clinical trials as a potential treatment path.
The American Cancer Society estimated that there would be more than 66,000 new cancer cases diagnosed in Georgia in 2025, with more than 19,000 deaths from cancer expected. Yet, it is estimated that only 3.7% of cancer patients in Georgia are participating in clinical trials that could potentially save their lives and possibly the lives of others. The national average for participation in cancer clinical trials is 7.1%. Further, the percentage of minority participation is extremely low with only 6% of clinical trial participants identifying as Black/African-American.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recently released the State of Cancer Care in America Special Report 2025: Access to Cancer Clinical Trials in the United States, where it details the integral part that clinical trials play in high-quality cancer care and the barriers that are keeping patients from participating5 in trials. As cancer shifts to impacting more people under 50 years of age and more women than men, the need for these populations to participate in clinical trials is growing. It is essential that the findings of clinical trials are representative of the populations that could be impacted most by novel treatments. The report states, Patients who participate in trials tend to be younger, healthier, and less racially, ethnically, and geographically diverse than the population receiving cancer care in the United States. As physicians, we must do more to encourage our patients to participate in clinical trials so we can be assured that the standard of care is appropriate for people other than just white men.
If you ask any community oncologist, they will tell you how hard it can be to find a clinical trial for a patient in need of novel therapies. Ever with its finger on the pulse of cancer care in Georgia, the leadership of Georgia CORE (Center for Oncology Research and Education) heard oncologists frustrations in finding clinical trials as well as the challenge of including diverse populations in clinical trial enrollment. The result has been a three-year pilot project called Georgia Cancer Trial Finders, a statewide cancer patient navigator program designed to connect physicians and patients for clinical trials. The program’s mission is to assist providers, patients, and caregivers in finding potential clinical trials as close to the patient’s home as possible and to navigate that patient to the trial. The Trial Finders pull data from www.ClinicalTrials.gov, but also supplement it with investigator-initiated and pharma trials open in Georgia to ensure that the database is as complete and accurate as possible.
We are fortunate in the metro Atlanta area to have five excellent cancer centers at major hospitals (Emory Winship, Georgia Cancer Center of Excellence at Grady, Northside Hospital Cancer Institute, Piedmont Oncology Institute, and Wellstar Cancer Center) and hundreds of oncologists in practices throughout the region. However, the underserved populations in metro Atlanta and patients living in rural areas of Georgia do not have the access needed to participate in clinical trials. Georgia Cancer Trial Finders is bridging the gap between providers, patients, and clinical trial sponsors to ensure that Georgians have access to the most innovative potential treatments for their cancer.
In 2024, the Federal Drug Administration approved 17 novel oncology drugs, and in addition, there were 32 new indications and label updates.6 The pace of innovation is astounding and is leading to the hope of survivorship for many families affected by cancer. This would not be possible without physicians and patients who value investigation of new and novel therapies. The impact of clinical trials is truly evident in the number of therapies and increase in complex combination of treatments. The cancer community is indebted to patients who were willing to be part of the path to finding effective new treatments for themselves and others.
We know cancer research saves lives. Georgia has invested in the research infrastructure needed to be part of the discovery process, and it has the diverse population needed to make the findings scalable to the entire country. As physicians and scientists, let’s commit to ensuring that our patients are not only surviving their cancer, but are taking part in the clinical trial process that will inform the next generation of medications, procedures, and devices that will lead patients to longer and more productive lives.
References:
1. Georgia Department of Public Health Cancer Registry
2. American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2025. Atlanta: American Cancer Society; 2025.
3. Unger JM, Shulman LN, Facktor MA, Nelson H, Fleury ME. National Estimates of the Participation of Patients With Cancer in Clinical Research Studies Based on Commission on Cancer Accreditation Data. J Clin Oncol. 2024 Jun 20;42(18):2139-2148. doi: 10.1200/JCO.23.01030. Epub 2024 Apr 2. PMID: 38564681; PMCID: PMC11191051.
4. Erin P. Balogh et al. ASCO State of Cancer Care in America Special Report 2025: Access to Cancer Clinical Trials in the United States. JCO Oncol PractÊ21,Ê1746-1758(2025). DOI:10.1200/OP-25-00233
5. Ibid.
6. Food & Drug Administration, Oncology Regulatory Review 2024 | FDA, accessed 12/15/2025.
L. Crain Garrot, MD
Dr. Garrot is a Medical Oncologist at Northside Hospital Cancer Institute. Dr. Garrot is the Genitourinary Cancer lead physician for Georgia Cancer Specialists where he also serves as the Chairman of the Quality, Research, and Therapeutics Committee. He moderates the Genitourinary Tumor Board at NHCI and serves on its GU Steering Committee. He is the Principal Investigator on multiple Genitourinary clinical trials conducted through NHCI and has been instrumental in bringing multiple clinical trials to NHCI in recent years.
