Bay Area Man Shares Clinical Trial Trip

TAMPA, Fla. — As medicine continues to advance, clinical trials play an important role in developing new treatments.

Research shows that it is important to have a diverse patient group for these studies.

However, research shows that there is a lack of representation and willingness within the Spanish-speaking community to participate in these clinical trials.

“Liver cancer is a prime example. Nationally, it is one of the top five most common cancers in Hispanic men,” said Susan Vadaparampil, associate director of Community Outreach Engagement and Equity at Moffit Cancer Center.

“But when we look at the studies of liver cancer therapies, despite it being 23% of all liver cancer cases, less than 10% of participants have been Spanish-speaking over the last 20 years.”

Spectrum News spoke with a three-time cancer survivor who wants to educate others about his clinical trial and the impact it had on his life.

For Joel Santos Gonzalez, there’s no place quite like the skate park

It’s a sport he fell in love with at a young age. “We went from just riding around to discovering that people could do tricks on it,” he said.

According to him, learning new tricks requires both physical and mental skills.

He is grateful that he can continue skating, because at one point he could no longer do so. Gonzalez was first diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 2017. He has been diagnosed two more times since then, but has overcome the disease each time.

“I’ve had immunotherapy, stem cell transplants and radiation,” he said. “I was in remission for six, seven months and had to go back for treatment.”

He says that when his body did not respond well to conventional treatments, he decided to participate in clinical trials. And for him, it was a great experience.

“Getting access to some of the best drugs out there is through a clinical trial. Every drug we look at now is a wonder drug or a game changer,” he said.

But participating in the trial wasn’t easy. That’s true for many Latinos, with less than five percent participating in those studies.

Research shows that language barriers, lack of knowledge about clinical trials, lack of trust and financial and logistical problems are the reasons for low participation.

Gonzalez says participating in two clinical trials has given him a different perspective on life. And he can get back to his daily exercise routine.

“It really taught me patience and appreciating my health,” he says.

He knows it won’t be easy to get more Latinos on board to participate in clinical trials, but he hopes the education he’s gained from his journey will inspire others to do the same.

“Both studies were indeed groundbreaking drugs that worked better than what was already on the market,” he said.

The battle with cancer was not easy for him, but just like with skateboarding, he learned how to get back on his feet and continue doing what he loves.

The Moffit Cancer Center offers educational courses on clinical trials for the Latino community.