Veteran Clinical Trial Participation Opportunities Increase Under POPCaP/Patch Program

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been able to “dramatically increase” clinical trial opportunities and participation over the past 2 years, thanks in part to a joint initiative from the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) and Veterans Affairs, according to data presented at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting, held in Chicago, Illinois, from May 30 to June 3, and published simultaneously online.¹

According to the researchers, the PCF and VA worked together to create the Precision Oncology Program for Cancer of Prostate (POPCaP) within the VA Healthcare System, also known at PATCH, which strived to “bring cutting-edge clinical trials to veterans but also sought to develop careers for VA investigators and encourage clinical trial participation by a more diverse group of men.”

According to the study, PCF and VA-funded sites paid for genomic testing, established clinical trial infrastructure, created a budget working group, and hired a research nurse to help open complicated investigator-sponsored studies. They then followed up with 2 monthly meetings to discuss research among the investigators and industry partners.

"Since the development of POPCaP/PATCH, veteran participation in clinical research has rapidly increased from 100 to 400 men enrolled in clinical trials. The number of clinical trials increased from 8 clinical trials to 21,” the researchers wrote, adding “using an existing database containing genomic results, it enrolled patients in trials requiring specific
genomic mutations (e.g., MSI-H, BRCA2). We efficiently screened patients for clinical trials, and more than half of those screened enrolled in trials, 60%.
Patients of different races and ethnicities participated; white 52.6%, black 36.1%, Hispanic/Latino 4.9%, Asian 2.2%, Native American 1.7%, unknown 2.5%.”

Data indicate that only about 7% of patients with cancer enroll in clinical trials.² The participation rate among veterans receiving care within the VA is estimated to be even lower, at approximately 2%. This discrepancy highlights the need for increased awareness and accessibility within the VA system, according to Daphne Friedman, MD, Deputy Director of the VA’s National Oncology Program, who spoke on this issue recently at the AMSUS 2025 meeting in National Harbor, MD.³

Reference

1. Graff JN, Rettig M, Sanchez L, et al. Dedicated resources for veteran clinical trial participation: The Prostate Cancer Analysis for Therapy Choice (PATCH) program. J Clin Oncol. 2025;43;16.
2. Unger JM, Xiao H, Vaidya R, et al. Patient enrollment to industry-sponsored versus federally-sponsored cancer clinical trials. J Clin Oncol. 2024;42:3917-3925.
3. Friedman D. Expanding access and curing cancer every day at VA. Presented at: 2025 AMSUS Meeting. March 3-6, 2025; National Harbor, MD.