The contribution of limited-resource countries to the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meetings

Limited-resource countries (LRCs) are underrepresented in biomedical research, and data with respect to oncology are lacking. The aim of the present study was to assess the participation of LRCs in the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meetings. We analyzed the characteristics of abstracts originating from LRCs presented at the 2005-2007 ASCO meetings. We used a logistic regression model to identify country characteristics associated with contributions to the meetings. Eight percent of abstracts were generated by authors from LRCs. Abstracts from LRCs, compared with abstracts originating from high-income countries (HICs), were less commonly scheduled for oral and poster presentations (1.4% and 26.8% vs 8.8% and 52.8%, respectively; P < 0.001), and were less likely to report industry-provided funding (2.0% vs 12.7%; P < 0.001). However, the presentation type and the rate of reporting industry funding did not significantly differ between HIC abstracts and LRC abstracts involving one or more coauthors from HICs. In multivariate analysis, ASCO-related characteristics, but not geoeconomic parameters, were significantly predictive of country participation in the meetings. These data show that the contribution of LRCs to ASCO annual meetings is very low. Although abstracts originating from LRCs involving authors from HICs were associated with a higher-impact type of presentation, their relevance to the cancer care concerns of LRCs remains to be ascertained.