Table 2.

Factors related to clinical trials participation of Asian-American women as reported by Vietnamese and Chinese women with cancer (N = 19)

Category	N	Participant Quotes
Knowledge and Practice
Heard of cancer clinical trials	4
Participated in cancer clinical trials	2	“There was a medication being tested at the time and it should be good for me. When he (treating oncologist) told me that it was good for me, I had to trust him.”
Barriers
Fear of side effects	11	“If everything had failed [on me] and it was the only hope, the only chance, I might try it. However, even if it were the only hope, I would still need to know if it would cause lots of uncomfortable feelings.”
Fear of experimentation or distrust	6	“The idea of an experiment scares me. The experience from taking estrogen, which caused my cancer cells to grow, has already made me very fearful and I lost the courage to try any medication.” “There were reports stating that it (hormones) was good for us. Now, they are confirming that the hormone is bad for us. I have no confidence in those researchers…” “Being guinea pig worries me a lot. The care in clinical trials is not always the best care. It is a 50-50 chance to get into the right or best treatment.”
Family is against trials participation	7	“First of all, her husband is not very supportive to her condition… If she tries the new medication, it must take her more time to see the doctor, right? Who would give her a ride there? Her closest person is not willing to help her and she does not want to ask others for help.”
Language	11
Childcare, work, or transportation	12
Facilitators
Physician recommendation	10	“If the doctors can convince me when I was being offered the opportunity for participation, I would join in… If they give me facts and that it would help me with my situation, I would participate.”
Recommendations by cancer survivors or others	4	“I think people are rather fearful to try this. It might have to do with the fact that they are more conservative and that they need to see actual personal experiences before they can have courage and faith. Often time, in my support group, some needed extra confirmation from others, who had gone through the treatments, to reassure them before they could make the decisions.”
Offering physician is knowledgeable and respectful	14
Wish to help others or science	12
Quality of care in cancer clinical trials	7	“The doctor followed me more carefully and more regularly while I was in the trials… If there were any problems, I just called, get a good explanation, and got blood test or get seen right away.”