Spatial distribution of melanoma clinical studies: A retrospective analysis of trends

Summary: Abstract Body: Melanoma stands as the most lethal skin cancer globally. The rising rates in the incidence and prevalence of melanoma underscores the need for an increase in novel therapies. Nevertheless, geographical obstacles impede access to clinical studies. This study looks to measure the geographical inequalities in access to clinical studies that persist amongst patients from various rural-urban commuting areas (RUCAs) and different racial groups. A retrospective study was conducted to assess the geographical accessibility of clinical studies for patients categorized by both RUCA and race, using data extracted from ClinicalTrials.gov. Clinical study data was retrieved on October 31st, 2024. A total of 607 clinical studies were identified. The number of new clinical studies increased significantly from 2005 to 2022 (R2 = 0.410, p < 0.05), with a slope of 0.740 trials added per year. It is important to note that during there was a significant decrease in the number of clinical trials in 2020 (87 trials), during the SARS-COV-2 pandemic. Rural areas demonstrated the greatest distance from clinical study sites (>200 km), followed by small town (175 km), micropolitan (160 km) and metropolitan (75 km) areas. All the average distances between the different RUCA categories were significantly different (p<0.001). When geographical disparities were analyzed by race, American Indians were located the farthest on average from the nearest clinical trial and Asians were located the closest. There is a great variation in the geographical access to melanoma clinical studies across the mainland United States. Rural areas and American Indian populations face the greatest distance to trial sites. Improving access is important because these groups are known to have higher melanoma-related death rates. Dev Patel¹, Dany Alkurdi¹, Curtis Tam¹, Rachel Goodman², Katie A. O’Connell², Omar Alani¹, Ezdean Alkurdi³, Naeha Pathak¹, Xavier Bear¹, Eman Bahrani², Douglas Johnson² 1. Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States. 2. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States. 3. University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, United States. Clinical Research: Epidemiology and Observational Research