August Member Meeting
Country-Wide Barriers to Clinical Trial Access in Colorectal Cancer
Following last month’s discussion on clinical trials, we continued the conversation with a different speaker, creating space to explore the topic further and, most importantly, to ask the questions that matter from a patient and advocacy perspective.
Our speaker, Cecilia Monge from J&J was ready to dig in and patient enough to fully engage with our members no matter how long it took. It quickly became clear that clinical trials are a topic that has sparked genuine interest across our community.
Dr. Monge discussed the global colorectal cancer burden, financial and infrastructure barriers, challenges with research capacity and regulatory processes, patient-level barriers, and the lack of diversity and representation in clinical trial enrollment. She also explained why diversity in clinical research is not only an equity issue, but a scientific necessity, given differences in tumor biology, pharmacogenomics, and treatment response across populations.
For patients and advocates, clinical trials can sometimes feel complicated, inaccessible or like something that happens somewhere far removed from the realities of everyday cancer care. Continuing this discussion gave our members an opportunity to unpack what clinical trials really mean, why participation matters, and how patients and advocates can become more informed and engaged in the research process.
The lively discussion, questions and exchange of perspectives were a powerful reminder of why these conversations are so important. When members stay beyond the scheduled time because they still have questions and want to keep talking, you know the conversation has struck a chord!
As an advocacy community, we believe patients should not simply be the subjects of research conversations, their voices, experiences and perspectives belong at the table.
And clearly, this is a conversation our members are not quite finished with yet.
Watch this space as we continue creating opportunities for our global community to learn, question, connect and advocate for meaningful patient involvement in cancer research.
Our next meeting is on September 16, 2026, at 08:00 UTC. We hope you’ll join us!
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