Criteria for selecting who can enroll in multiple myeloma clinical trials may exclude patients from minority groups

Numerous studies have shown that people from racial and ethnic minority groups are underrepresented in clinical trials of new medical treatments for multiple myeloma. A study published today in the Blood Journal suggests that, for clinical trials of new treatments for multiple myeloma (a type of blood cancer), one reason for this underrepresentation may be that the parameters set to determine who can—and cannot—enroll in trials disproportionately exclude minority patients.