American Society of Clinical Oncology Position Statement: Strategies for Reducing Cancer Health Disparities Among Sexual and Gender Minority Populations

Authors

Jennifer Griggs

Jennifer Griggs, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; Shail Maingi, New Jersey Medical School–University Hospital Cancer Center, Newark, NJ; Victoria Blinder and Larry Norton, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY; Neelima Denduluri, US Oncology, The Woodlands, TX; Alok A. Khorana, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH; Michael Francisco and Dana S. Wollins, American Society of Clinical Oncology, Alexandria, VA; and Julia H. Rowland, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD.

Jennifer Griggs, Shail Maingi, Victoria Blinder, Neelima Denduluri, Alok A. Khorana, Larry Norton, Michael Francisco, Dana S. Wollins, Julia H. Rowland

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ASCO is committed to addressing the needs of sexual and gender minority (SGM) populations as a diverse group at risk for receiving disparate care and having suboptimal experiences, including discrimination, throughout the cancer care continuum. This position statement outlines five areas of recommendations to address the needs of both SGM populations affected by cancer and members of the oncology workforce who identify as SGM: (1) patient education and support; (2) workforce development and diversity; (3) quality improvement strategies; (4) policy solutions; and (5) research strategies. In making these recommendations, the Society calls for increased outreach and educational support for SGM patients; increased SGM cultural competency training for providers; improvement of quality-of-care metrics that include sexual orientation and gender information variables; and increased data collection to inform future work addressing the needs of SGM communities.