Enrollment on upfront high-risk neuroblastoma trials by race, ethnicity, and poverty status: A report from the Children’s Oncology Group

Umaretiya PJ, Naranjo A, Zhang FF, Irwin MS, DuBois SG, Bagatell R, Bona K. Enrollment on upfront high-risk neuroblastoma trials by race, ethnicity, and poverty status: A report from the Children’s Oncology Group. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2024 Jul;71(7):e31051. doi: 10.1002/pbc.31051. Epub 2024 May 5. PubMed PMID: 38706187; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11116035.

It is not clear whether trial access disparities exist in the Children’s Oncology Group (COG). Here, we leverage a cohort of children with high-risk neuroblastoma (HR-NBL) enrolled on the COG ANBL00B1 neuroblastoma biology study to examine subsequent enrollment to upfront COG therapeutic trials by race, ethnicity, and proxied poverty status. Among 1,917 children with HR-NBL enrolled on ANBL00B1, 696 (36.3%) subsequently enrolled on an upfront therapeutic trial with no difference by race, ethnicity or proxied poverty status. In neuroblastoma, trial access disparities are not comparable to adult oncology and efforts to advance equity should prioritize other mechanisms of survival disparities.