On Nov. 21, in support of President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative, ACS announced that it will offer a first-of-its-kind Clinical Trials Navigation certificate for professionals providing nonclinical navigation services in 2025. This expansion of ACS’ existing Leadership in Oncology Navigation (ACS LION) program represents a significant step forward as ACS contributes to a multi-year effort driven by the Biden Cancer Moonshot to expand access to high-quality navigation services for patients and their families navigating treatment for cancer and other serious illnesses. Pictured above are, from left to right, Dr. Shanthi Sivendran, senior vice president, Cancer Treatment Support; Dr. Bonny Morris, vice president, Navigation; Dr. Harold Freeman, the father of patient navigation, and Dr. Arif Kamal, chief patient officer.
Clinical trials are critical to the development and advancement of new treatments for cancer; however, nearly 20% of cancer clinical trials are unsuccessful due to lack of patient participation. While approximately 70% of American cancer patients are inclined or willing to engage in clinical trials, only 3% to 6% of eligible cancer patients participate, given trial recruitment, enrollment, and retention barriers.
To address these barriers and increase access to innovative clinical trial research, the new ACS LION Clinical Trials Certificate, available in January 2025, will equip professionals providing navigation services with the knowledge and skills to make clinical trials more accessible to patients. The enhanced support from patient navigators will enable more patients to gain access to potentially lifesaving treatments and resources.
“Access to clinical trials can play a crucial role in a patient’s cancer journey by providing new treatment options that wouldn’t otherwise be available. Patient navigators can help ensure patients have equitable access to clinical trials, but more training is needed to standardize how professionals guide patients through the complexities of the healthcare system,” said Wayne A. I. Frederick, MD, MBA, interim chief executive officer. “ACS is proud to support the Biden Cancer Moonshot by leveraging our experience and scale to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer.”
“For over 30 years, ACS has led the way in establishing the field of navigation. ACS has funded dedicated provider and patient programs, developed training curricula, and united collaborators through the ACS National Navigation Roundtable,” said Dr. Arif Kamal, chief patient officer. “By continuing to empower professional navigators, in active partnership with oncology providers and the cancer community, we can create more opportunities for patients and their families to access these critical services, helping them make informed treatment decisions and ultimately resulting in better outcomes.”
ACS LION was launched in January 2024 following the change by CMS to cover nonclinical services related to patient navigation, a widely recognized intervention that helps individuals, caregivers, and families through cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment and survivorship. Achieving consistent, reliable cancer navigation nationwide requires standardization of training that adheres to best practices.
Pictured above, Dr. Sivendran, seated second from right, participated in a panel discussion at the White House Navigation Summit.
