Inequalities in availability of clinical trials for pediatric, adolescent, and young adult patients with cancer in Europe: results from the SIOPE OCEAN project.

There are pronounced inequalities in outcomes of children, adolescents, and young adults (AYA) with cancer across Europe. The OCEAN project aimed at describing the availability of clinical trials for this population, the inequalities between countries, and propose solutions to reduce these disparities. The ClinicalTrials.gov database was searched to identify all European cancer clinical interventional studies including patients <18 years with a start date between 2010 and 2022. The study included 436 cancer-directed trials in 38 European countries. More than half were academic-sponsored (55%), and 49% included exclusively pediatric/AYA patients. Important differences in available trial numbers per country were identified, with more trials observed in Northern and Western Europe as compared to Eastern Europe. There is an urgent need to address differences in clinical trials availability both at European and national levels to advance equity and improve care, research and access to innovation for all pediatric/AYA patients with cancer in Europe. Funding: This work has been performed as part of WP6 on inequalities in cancer research of the 4.UNCAN.eu Coordination and Support Action (#101069496) funded by the European Union and has been supported by Zoé4Life (MO).