Abstract 2034: The young-onset colorectal cancer community speaks out about financial and emotional health

Abstract

Abstract Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States and the second leading cause of cancer deaths. The 5-year survival rate of advanced CRC is low, at 14%. As CRC continues to rise in young people (20-49), we and others have shown that these patients are diagnosed at advanced stages of the disease. As a result, many of these individuals are subjected to aggressive treatments. Young-onset (YO) CRC patients and caregivers face unique clinical challenges including fear and stress around the disruption of family and career developmental tasks and goals suggesting a need for additional psychosocial and financial support. A cross-sectional study, conducted in the form of an online survey, was launched to better understand the experiences around employment and the resulting financial and psychological stress of YO-CRC patients and caregivers. YO-CRC patients and survivors (N=884) and caregivers (N=203) who were diagnosed between the ages of 20 to 50 years old completed an online questionnaire that was based on established instruments including PROMIS, EORTC-QOL-30, and EORTC-CR-29.Our survey found that 75% of patients and survivors were employed full-time at the time of diagnosis and only half of them were working at the time of the survey. Similarly, two-thirds of the respondents who were working part-time at diagnosis were working at the time of the survey. This suggests that a significant number of YO-CRC patients are unable to work after diagnosis. Interestingly, a quarter of them have been without evidence of disease for 2-10 years. Not surprisingly, more than half of the patient and survivor respondents indicated that they feel financially stressed (56%), worry about the loss of their family's financial stability because of the cost of cancer care (54%), and worry about the financial problems they will have in the future due to their illness/treatments (66%). Of those who feel financially stressed, 35% reported significant feelings of sudden panic/anxiety. Similarly, 40% of caregivers reported feeling financially stressed. This could be connected to 40% of them reporting taking a leave of absence, quitting a job, or leaving school because of the patient's diagnosis.These survey results indicate a need for the YO-CRC community to have access to resources that reduce the burden of loss of employment and resulting financial and psychological stress. Given the reality that 75% of our respondents had children, we hypothesize that employment and financial stress are potentially correlated to compounding parental responsibilities. Further studies will investigate financial and psychological well-being specific to the impact of child-rearing during the cancer-related loss of employment. Programs tailored at the YO-CRC community should consider the unique challenges presented by potential employment changes, parenting roles, and the likelihood of financial and psychological stress. Citation Format: Danielle Peterson, Tamara Springer, Kimberly Newcomer, Never2Young Board, Ronit Yarden. The young-onset colorectal cancer community speaks out about financial and emotional health [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 2034.