Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29700209›Full record

ArticleThe oncologist2018

At What Cost to Clinical Trial Enrollment? A Retrospective Study of Patient Travel Burden in Cancer Clinical Trials.

Hala T Borno, Li Zhang, Adam Siegel, Emily Chang, Charles J Ryan

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in The oncologist, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 69 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
69citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
7.4field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

69 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 112 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  8. Inequities in enrollment across clinical trial phases and the need for a Spanish perspective.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026
    Review
  9. Geographic equity in oncology clinical trials in Spain: fragmentation, indicators, and evidence.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026
    Article
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  15. Use of supportive care services and advance care planning among early phase oncology clinical trial participants.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
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9 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Hala T BornoDepartment of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA hala.borno@ucsf.edu.
Li ZhangDepartment of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
Adam SiegelDepartment of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
Emily ChangHelen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
Charles J RyanDepartment of Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.
University of California, San Francisco · USUCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center · US

Funding

RESEARCH TRAINING IN GERIATRIC MEDICINET32AG000212 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI Alexander Keliimoeanu Smith · 1991 to 2026
$7.7M
NIA NIH HHS T32 AG000212
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundRecent literature suggests that living in a rural setting may be associated with adverse cancer outcomes. This study examines the burden of travel from home to cancer center for clinical trial (CT) enrollees. MATERIALS AND

methodsPatients from the University of California San Francisco Clinical Trial Management System database who enrolled in a cancer CT for a breast, genitourinary, or gastrointestinal malignancy between 1993 and 2014 were included. Cancer type, household zip code, race/ethnicity, phase of study, study sponsor, and year of signed consent were exported. Distance traveled from home to center was calculated using a GoogleMaps application programming interface. The relationships of distance with phase of CT, household income, and race/ethnicity were examined.

resultsA total of 1,600 patients were enrolled in breast (55.8%), genitourinary (29.4%), or gastrointestinal (14.9%) cancer CTs. The overall median unidirectional distance traveled from home to study site was 25.8 miles (interquartile range [IQR] 11.5-75.3). Of the trial sponsors examined, principal investigator (56.4%), industry (22.2%), cooperative group (11.6%), and National Institutes of Health (NIH; 9.8%), the longest distance traveled was for NIH-sponsored trials, with a median of 39.4 miles (

conclusionThis study found that the burden of travel is highest among patients enrolled in NIH-sponsored trials, phase I studies, or living in low-income areas. These data suggest that travel burden for cancer CT participants may be significant. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: This study is one of the first to measure travel distance for patients in cancer clinical trials using a real-world GoogleMaps calculator. Out-of-pocket expenses such as travel are not typically covered by health care payers; therefore, patients may face considerable cost to attend each study visit. Using a single-center clinical trials enrollment database, this study found that the burden of travel is highest for patients enrolled in National Institutes of Health-sponsored trials and phase I studies, as well as for patients living in low-income areas. Results suggest that a significant proportion of patients enrolled in clinical trials face a substantial travel burden.

Indexed as

Clinical Trials as TopicEarly Detection of CancerFemaleHumansMaleRetrospective StudiesTravelCancer clinical trial disparitiesHealth care costsRecruitment scienceRepresentativeness in clinical trialsTravel distance

Identifiers

PMID29700209
PMCPMC6263122
OpenAlexW2803076325

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.