The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has released its first-ever Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Blueprint Report, highlighting ASCO’s 2022 advancements in the EDI space.

The report provides information on 22 initiatives that ASCO launched across the mission pillars of research, education and quality, and spotlights eight of them which made significant progress in 2022. It also gives insight on ASCO and Conquer Cancer’s board demographics, showcasing increased diversity across race and ethnicity, gender identity and sexual orientation, veteran status, and accessibility considerations.

“This report highlights ASCO’s dedication to creating and sustaining meaningful, health equity-focused impacts across our member community and within the organization. All these efforts are aimed at helping the oncology community provide high-quality, equitable care for all people with cancer,” said ASCO’s Chief EDI Officer Sybil Green. “This work is only possible due to the dedication of ASCO staff across all departments and volunteers who have contributed invaluable time to every EDI initiative and will continue to work tirelessly to ensure we make progress towards our goals.”

Selected highlights from the report include:

• ASCO-ACCC Initiative: Under the research pillar, ASCO partnered with the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) to address the lack of diversity in clinical trial enrollment through a site self-assessment tool and implicit bias training. The tools help identify local barriers to study accrual and suggest ways to overcome them. As of July 2022, 251 research sites have accessed the site self-assessment and 170 individuals completed the implicit bias training. ASCO is currently conducting follow-on research to understand site barriers and identify strategies to collect and assess screening and enrollment data.
• Oncology Summer Internship: To help build a diverse pipeline of oncology professionals, ASCO developed this program to expose medical students from populations that are underrepresented in medicine to the oncology field early in their education. The number of participating students increased to 52 in 2022 (compared to 29 in 2021) and program graduates have shared positive feedback regarding their experiences, including feeling more connected to their institution, feeling more confident in making decisions around their specialty choice and rating themselves as more knowledgeable about oncology career paths. The internship is hosted in partnership between ASCO and select U.S. medical schools.
• Quality Training Program: ASCO developed this program to improve the delivery of cancer care in medically underserved communities in the U.S. and globally through quality improvement education and training. A total of 1,258 trainees and 445 practice or institution trained teams participated in QTP over the last decade.
• Montana Rural Pilot: The Increasing Access to Cancer Care in Rural Montana program was developed and launched in this state to increase cancer care access for geographically isolated populations through the “hub and spoke” care delivery model. Since the pilot’s launch in 2022, the program has established a volunteer task force to help advise and identify potential solutions to implementation barriers as well as built relationships with local site partners to identify key challenges. Next steps include assessment of the hub site to meet ASCO’s Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) Certification standards and development of a quality improvement plan to ensure and sustain the foundation of quality care delivery at the sites. The spoke site will also open an infusion suite and develop the care team with the goal of seeing local patients by the end of 2023.

“Each initiative mentioned in the Blueprint Report plays a vital role and represents concrete steps ASCO has taken towards achieving the mission of providing high-quality, equitable care for every person with cancer,” said Nancy Daly, Conquer Cancer’s Chief Executive Officer. “We are grateful for the continued and generous support from our donors and board members who recognize and prioritize equity, diversity, and inclusion at the forefront of cancer care.”

In 2022 ASCO established the Center for EDI in 2022, which plans and guides the organization’s internal and external EDI efforts, including goals outlined in ASCO’s EDI Action Plan. ASCO’s EDI work is funded by donations to EDI Initiatives through Conquer Cancer®, the ASCO Foundation.

To read the EDI Blueprint Report in its entirety and to learn more about ASCO’s equity-related efforts, visit asco.org/equity.