Socioeconomic Status, Obesity and Breast Cancer

RUNNING HEAD: SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS, OBESITY AND BREAST CANCER
I am glad to have the opportunity to review your prospectus again. As you know,
my job as prospectus reviewer for the Program Director is to ensure that your
proposed research fits within the discipline, is a doctoral-level study, and is
feasible to complete. Given this, I can’t quite recommend approval of your
prospectus at this time.
First, I reviewed this as a first submission because the main study changed
completely. I would really like to encourage you to go back to the second
submission and revise instead of continuing with this one unless you can come up
with a succinct quantitative method and data for this topic. Right now, this
prospectus lacks focus and it is not clear what methods you will use or why.
In case you decide to continue with this topic I have provided some feedback. My
concerns impact some of the rubric criteria. The main concern is that this study is
currently not feasible because you do not have a specific methodology. Remember
that course work for students in the Epidemiology specialization focus on
quantitative methods and Epi students are really encouraged and learn the skills to
do quantitative studies. Another concern is the problem statement does not yet
contain any identification of or argument for, the specific research gap being
addressed in the study. Another concern is the lack of alignment. The problem
statement, framework, and research questions are not aligned. Once you revise the
problem statement, be sure the research questions and theoretical framework
align.
I have provided comments using the Comments feature in Word as well as Track
Changes in the document below. Please make sure you are viewing the document
in software where the comments can be seen (e.g., do not use Google Chrome).
The comments that particularly relate to the rubric criteria are highlighted in
yellow.
Please don’t hesitate to have your chair contact me with any questions or
concerns. I look forward to seeing your revisions!
Kind regards,
Underrepresentation of Minority Women in Breast Cancer Clinical Trials and Biospecimen
Banks
Walden University

Underrepresentation of Minority Women in Clinical Trials and Biospecimen Banks 2
Underrepresentation of Minority Women in Clinical Trials and Biospecimen Banks regarding
Breast Cancer
Problem Statement
According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), breast cancer is the
most common form of cancer in women in the United States (CDC, 2019). However, breast
cancer is the leading cause of death for Hispanic women and the second leading cause of death
among white, black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaskan Native women (CDC,
2019). Although breast cancer continues to pose a significant threat to women’s health, fatalities
amongst women with breast cancer have decreased within the United States (WHO, 2019).
Although there have been advancements in the treatment that is being provided to the
patients suffering from cancer, there have been several discrepancies in survivorship among
minority women when compared to Caucasian counterparts (da Costa Vieira et al., 2017).
According to World Health Organization, advancements have been observed in early detection
of cancer by efficient cancer screening programs (WHO, 2019). However, discrepancies are
majorly attributed to lack of access to quality healthcare, overall poorer health practices and
mistrust of the healthcare professionals (de Costa Viera et al., 2017). According to Frierson et al.,
(2017), African – American women have a much higher survivability rate than Caucasian
women. The discrepancy that has been caused due to the different races of the individuals have
been regarded as the Black – White crossover. More recently, however, these historic
explanations of higher cancer morbidity are increasingly viewed as incomplete (Banegas et al.,
2016; de Costa Viera et al., 2017; DeSantis et al., 2016; Hines et al, 2017). An emerging novel
explanation for the difference in breast cancer survivorship may be dependent on the
representation of women of minority groups in both clinical trials and within biospecimen banks
(Banegas et al., 2016). There is a decrease in the number of participants in the clinical trials from

Underrepresentation of Minority Women in Clinical Trials and Biospecimen Banks 3
the minority group which can create a gap in the research studies. The discrepancy by the
different race of the individual gives rise to the populace participating less in the research.
Because of this, there is a possibility of exclusion of valuable information needed to understand
the discrepancies between the minority women and the Caucasian women (Banegas et al., 2016;
Breitkopf et al., 2017; Duma et al., 2017).
Purpose
The primary aim of the study is to understand the relationship between the
underrepresentation of minority women in clinical trials as well as bio specimen banks. There is
a possibility of biasness in the results while conducting research on the clinical trials and bio
specimen banks. The design of the study that will be implemented for this research is
quantitative research. For an effective understanding of the research study, addressing the
underrepresentation of the minority women is important in clinical trials as well as bio specimen
banks. According to the study conducted by Friedman et al., (2015), few studies have been
conducted encircling the minority population with major health disparities faced by the
community with less percentage of patients enrolling in the clinical trials. Hence, this paper will
help in understanding the reason for this occurrence.
Significance
The results of this study will provide a more definitive correlation between the
underrepresentation of minority women in clinical trials and biospecimen banks and differences
in breast cancer survivorship. Insights from this study may guide health practitioners, breast
cancer organizations, and women towards developing more inclusive clinical trials and initiatives
for the increased collection of biological specimens from minority women with breast cancer.
With increased representation, clinical trials and breast cancer research may be able to focus