Pitt Pediatrics congratulates Jenny Ruiz, MD, MSCE, for her recent publication in Pediatric Blood & Cancer, titled, “Absolute neutrophil count clinical trial eligibility criteria for pediatric oncology phase I and phase I/II trials by sponsorship.” Ruiz is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in our Division of Hematology-Oncology, and was recently named to the National Hispanic Medical Association and National Hispanic Health Foundation’s prestigious 40 Under 40 list of outstanding medical health professionals. 
In this research, Ruiz, along with her co-researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Department of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine, investigated normal absolute neutrophil count (ANC) variations as a possible mechanism for racial enrollment disparities in pediatric oncology phase I and phase I/II clinical trials.
Typically, in phase I and phase I/II trials, pediatric eligibility may depend on ANC count, which can inherently exclude patients with a variation called Duffy-null associated neutrophil count (DANC), often found in those of African descent. This issue can therefore create disparities in populations enrolled in clinical trials, and lead to inconsistent or under-investigated outcomes.
Ruiz’ research looked at 438 clinical trials from 2010 to 2023, of which 20% were industry sponsored. Out of all trials, 17% required ANC counts to be greater than 1500 cells/μL. However, industry-sponsored trials were significantly more likely to require that level of ANC count in order for a patient to be eligible, indicating this exclusion criteria may be a mechanism for enrollment disparities.
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