Clinical trials for rare cancers can struggle to find patients

Visual form

Multi-row dot-and-bubble comparison chart.

Layout / body structure

The chart stacks three measurement rows for four rare cancer types. Read each disease column from top to bottom: active US Phase III trials at the top, patients required for those trials in the middle, and new US cases in 2020 at the bottom.

What is being compared

It compares cholangiocarcinoma, acute lymphocytic leukemia, multiple myeloma, and non-small-cell lung cancer across trial count, required enrollment, and annual incidence.

Measurement system

The top row uses whole-number trial counts, while the lower two rows use patient counts. Dot marks encode the number of active trials, and bubble-size callouts anchor the larger patient and case totals for each cancer type.

Visible structure inside the graphic

Each cancer type occupies one vertical column. Small dots in the top row show the trial count, then two larger labeled circles below show patients required and new cases, making the enrollment burden easy to compare against the available patient pool.

Main takeaway from the visual

The chart shows how tight recruitment can become in rare cancers: for some diseases, the total number of patients needed by active Phase III trials sits surprisingly close to the number of new patients diagnosed in a full year.

Key standout values or extremes

Non-small-cell lung cancer is the largest category at 109 trials, 77,392 required patients, and 172,507 new US cases. Acute lymphocytic leukemia is the clearest squeeze point, with 27 trials needing 36,438 patients against only 6,000 new cases, while cholangiocarcinoma shows 10 trials, 4,361 required patients, and 9,152 new cases.

Controls / sequence, when applicable

This is a static chart image with no in-chart controls to operate.

Companion media, when applicable

There is no separate companion audio or video; the chart image is the full visual on this page.