Individual abstract within a Delegate Designed Symposium Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2026

Reimagining Precision Cancer Care: Community‑Led Chinese Support Integration and Arabic Research Navigation to Boost Research Literacy and Trial Access (142890)

Abhijit Pal 1 2 , Fisaha Tesfay 2 , Michael Camit 1 , Rayan Moussa 3 , Bernadette Brady 1 , Ben Smith 4 , Randa Kattan 5 , Matthew Jennings 1 , Derek Huang 6 , Karly Lee 6 , Eric Yeung 6 , Emma Symons 1 , Dimitrije Karadarevic 1 , Frances Boyle 7 , Deme Karikios 8 , Wei Chua 1 2
  1. South Western Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  2. Australian Centre for Cancer Equity, Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, Liverpool, NSW, Australia
  3. Cancer Symptoms Trials, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney
  4. The Daffodil Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney
  5. Arab Council of Australia, Sydney
  6. CanRevive, Sydney
  7. Mater Hospital, University of Sydney, Sydney
  8. Nepean Hospital, Sydney

Background: Research shows persistent underrepresentation of culturally and linguistically diverse communities in cancer clinical trials, which contributes to disparities in cancer outcomes and also affects the generalisability of clinical trial results. Research has shown that mistrust, misunderstandings and language barriers contribute to these disparities. Community-led partnerships to build trust and improve communication may improve equity. This presentation covers two projects - the first, CANCER PRISM, examines barriers and enablers to clinical trial participation among Chinese-background Australians and co-design a culturally appropriate research literacy toolkit. The second project, Arabic BTN, implements a co-designed bilingual navigator model for Arabic-speaking cancer patients to strengthen trust and improve understanding of cancer research.

Methods: CANCER PRISM conducted five focus groups with 31 Chinese-background participants across South West Sydney and South East Sydney, facilitated in Mandarin and Cantonese in partnership with CanRevive, and analysed using inductive thematic framework analysis. The Arabic BTN project, co-designed a bilingual trial navigator (BTN) training program with 14 healthcare professionals and 25 consumers across SWSLHD, recruiting five BTNs who approached Arabic-speaking cancer patients who were potential clinical research participants. Research readiness was assessed using a standardised pre- and post-intervention questionnaire.

Results:  CANCER PRISM identified facilitators to clinical trial participation such as earlier access to novel treatments and altruism and barriers such as fear of being a “guinea pig,” medical mistrust, placebo concerns, and uncertainty about interactions with Traditional Chinese Medicine. A research literacy toolkit is being currently co-designed based on these findings. 68% of patients who were approached were happy to participate in the Arabic BTN program. Challenges with referrer uptake were attributed to clinical workflow pressures.

Conclusions: These two research programs demonstrate that it is feasible to partner with communities to co-design strategies that aim to improve research literacy overcome both linguistic and cultural barriers to clinical research participation.