A Call to Action: Dismantling Racial Injustices in Preclinical Research and Clinical Care of Black Patients Living with Small Cell Lung Cancer

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Portia L. Thomas, Meharry Medical College; Chioma J. Madubata, Stanford University; Melinda C. Aldrich, Vanderbilt University; Montessa M. Lee, Regent University; Taofeek Owonikoko, Emory University; John D. Minna, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center; Charles M. Rudin, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Julien Sage, Stanford University; Christine M. Lovly, Vanderbilt University
• Language: English
• Date: 2021-02-01
• Publisher: American Association for Cancer Research
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: ©2020 American Association for Cancer Research.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.CD-20-1592
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Cancer Discovery
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 2
• Start Page: 240
• End Page: 244
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported by the NIH (grant numbers U54CA217450, U01CA224276, P30CA086485, UG1CA233259, S21MD000104, R35CA231997, U24CA213274, U01CA213338, and P50CA070907) and the Lung Cancer Foundation of America/International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Lori Monroe Scholarship.
• Keywords: Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Oncology; Science & Technology
• Research Categories: Biology, Microbiology; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery; Health Sciences, Immunology; Biology, Physiology

Abstract

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive disease with dismal survival rates and limited therapeutic options. SCLC development is strongly associated with exposure to tobacco carcinogens. However, additional genetic and environmental risk factors that contribute to SCLC pathogenesis are beginning to emerge. Here, we specifically assess disparities pertaining to SCLC in Black populations. In contrast to non–small cell lung cancer, preliminary data suggest that Black individuals may actually be at a lower risk of developing SCLC relative to white individuals. This difference remains unexplained but urgently needs to be verified in larger data sets, because it could provide important new insights and approaches to understanding this recalcitrant tumor. Impor-tantly, little biological information exists on SCLC in Black individuals, and few patient-derived preclinical SCLC models from diverse ancestries are available in the laboratory. Unfortunately, we note strikingly low numbers of Black participants in clinical trials testing new treatments for SCLC. Evidence further indicates that care for patients with SCLC may vary between communities with a large fraction of Black patients and those without. Together, these observations underscore the need to better investigate genetic, environmental, and socioeco-nomic factors associated with SCLC development, preclinical research, clinical care, and outcomes.