Nearly every one of Dr. Brandon Hayes-Lattin’s patients takes part in cancer research to study the latest promising treatments.

As a rule, however, most cancer patients in the United States do not participate in clinical trials, and Dr. Hayes-Lattin believes myths and misconceptions are to blame. “Patients participating in Phase III clinical trials receive treatments that are being studied as potential advances to the current standard of care,” says Dr. Hayes-Lattin.

Dr. Hayes-Lattin rides his bike to work each day, where he cares for his patients and conducts research at Oregon Health & Science University Cancer Institute in Portland. He focuses on immune therapies against cancer, including bone marrow transplantation. His personal experience with cancer inspires his work with clinical trials – he is a testicular cancer survivor and his mother survived a rare abdominal tumor. He’s also inspired by his fellow cancer survivors, many of whom don’t think of him as a physician, but as a fellow survivor.

As someone who has devoted his career to cancer research, Dr. Hayes-Lattin wants to help clear up the misunderstandings many people have about clinical trials. “It is important to me that myths associated with cancer research and clinical trials be dispelled, since research is the way we advance cancer care,” he says.

By riding in the Bristol-Myers Squibb Tour of Hope™, Dr. Hayes-Lattin aims to eliminate some of that fear and confusion. He especially wants to reach people in rural areas of the country, to let them know about the cutting-edge cancer research being done in cancer centers and physicians’ offices, and to encourage them to learn more about it. Dr. Hayes-Lattin wants them to know cancer research is worth the ride.