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Empowering oncologists: a practical approach to overcoming barriers to clinical trial enrolment

Oncologists have crucial yet under-studied and often under-supported roles in promoting clinical trial referral and enrolment. Herein, we advocate for a systemic shift that acknowledges the operational barriers oncologists face and enhances structural support through streamlined workflows and behavioural science-informed strategies to facilitate their participation in clinical trial enrolment.

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Fig. 1: Factors influencing the clinical trial referral behaviour of oncologists.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are exceptionally grateful for the pivotal contributions of T. Wang, Burnett School of Medicine at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX, USA, whose keen insight, careful editorial revisions and crucial literature reviews were invaluable. We also owe a debt of gratitude to H. H. Moon, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Riverside, CA, USA for her penetrating insights, thoughtful analysis and critical editorial improvements that substantially elevated this manuscript. Their expertise was indispensable to this project. The work of C.J. is supported by the Robert A. Winn Career Development Award and the ASCO Conquer Cancer Foundation Career Development Award.

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Correspondence to Changchuan Jiang.

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Jiang, C., Nipp, R.D. & Zhang, T. Empowering oncologists: a practical approach to overcoming barriers to clinical trial enrolment. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 22, 541–542 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41571-025-01038-6

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