TAMPA, Fla. — As advancements in medicine continue to be made, clinical trials are a big part of developing new forms of treatment.

Studies show having a diverse pool of patients for these trials is important.

However, among the Hispanic community, research shows a lack of representation and willingness to take part in these clinical trials.

“Liver cancer is an important example. Nationally it’s one of the top five cancers for Latino men," said Susan Vadaparampil, associate center director of Community Outreach Engagement and Equity with Moffit Cancer Center.

"But when we look at the trials for therapies for liver cancer, despite being 23% of all of the cases for liver cancer, over the past 20 years less than 10 percent of those enrolled are Hispanic.”

Spectrum News spoke with a three-time cancer survivor whose mission is to educate others on his clinical trial journey and the impact it had on his life.

For Joel Santos Gonzalez, there’s no place quite like the skate park

It’s a sport he fell in love with at a very young age. "We went just from riding around, to discovering people could do tricks on them," he said.

He says it requires both physical and mental ability to learn new tricks.

He is grateful he can continue to skate, because at one point he wasn’t able to. Gonzalez was first diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2017. He has since been diagnosed twice more – but has beaten the disease each time.

“I did immune therapy, stem cell transplant, radiation," he said. "I had been in remission for like six, seven months and had to do treatment again.”

He says when his body didn’t respond well to conventional treatments, he decided to participate in clinical trials. And for him, it was a great experience.

"To have access to some of the best medicine in existence is through a clinical trial. Any medicine we look at now is like a miracle drug or like this game changer," he said.

But committing to the trial wasn’t easy. That’s the case for many Latinos, with less than five percent enrolled in those studies.

Research shows language barriers, lack of knowledge about clinical trials, lack of trust and financial and logistical issues are reasons behind the low participation.

Gonzalez says being part of two clinical trials has given him a different outlook on life. And he can get back to his daily workout routine. 

“It really taught me patience and to appreciate when I am healthy,” he says.

He knows it won’t be easy to get more Latinos on board with participating in clinical trials. But he’s hoping educating through his journey will inspire others to do so.

“Both trials have indeed been cutting edge medicine that worked better than what was out there already,” he said.

His cancer journey hasn’t been easy – but much like skateboarding, he’s learned to get back on his feet to continue doing what he loves.

Moffit Cancer Center offers educational courses for the Latino community on clinical trials.