Abstract 3191: Molecular testing in lung cancer: Patient and caregiver experiences

Abstract

Abstract Increasingly over the past decade, new targeted therapeutics and immunotherapies with associated companion diagnostics have been approved for the treatment of lung cancer. Lung cancer is often associated with elderly and lower socio-economic populations that may not have a high level of health literacy. As part of a comprehensive needs assessment survey of the lung cancer community, lung cancer patients and their caregivers were asked whether they or their loved ones had undergone molecular testing/biomarker testing as well as asked to report the history of oncologic drugs they had taken. Demographic information and additional cancer treatment history were also collected. Over 300 survey responses were collected. Interim analyses indicated that the majority (68%) of patients currently undergoing active treatment had received molecular testing to help determine their treatment plan. There was a clear improvement in testing rates over time with less than 30% of patients who had completed treatment reporting use of a molecular test. Importantly, there is still an educational gap that needs to be addressed as greater than 20% of patients and greater than 30% of loved ones, including the group who self-identified as the primary caregiver, reported that they did not know whether molecular testing had been performed. In addition, patients reported that they had not received EGFR mutation testing but had taken erlotinib, gefinitib, and/or afatinib. Final results will be presented as well as an analysis of factors that associate with lack of molecular testing. Taken together, these data indicate that there is a critical need for enhanced patient and caregiver education regarding molecular testing. Citation Format: Jennifer C. King, Maureen Rigney. Molecular testing in lung cancer: Patient and caregiver experiences. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 3191.