Adherence (adh) to and beliefs about oral anticancer medications (OAMs) in patients (pts) with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).

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25 Background: Suboptimal adh to drugs is a problem in chronic diseases. In mRCC, OAMs are the mainstay of treatment (tx). Adh and its determinants in exclusively mRCC pts has not been studied in the US. This study aimed to evaluate adh to OAMs in mRCC pts, and describe pts understanding and beliefs about OAMs and their disease. Methods: Cross-sectional study of pts on OAMs for at least 60 days. Standardized assessment instruments used: Adh—MMAS-8 questionnaire (Q); beliefs and expectations regarding OAMs—Beliefs about Medicines Q (BMQ) and Brief-Illness Perception Q (IPQ); Quality of Life (QOL)—BSI-18, FKSI. Semi-structured interviews assessed financial burden, barriers to adh, understanding of prognosis and goals of therapy. Results: 52 pts interviewed with median age 65 (range 36-90), 73% male, 71% Caucasian, 40% college graduates. OAMs used: 38% sunitinib, 31% pazopanib, 21% everolimus, 8% axitinib. 1st line OAM tx: 46%; 2nd line tx: 33%; 3rd or beyond: 21%. MMAS-8: 10% low adheres, 25% intermediate, 65% high. Income: 35%<40K, 24%=40-60K, 41%>60K. Adh decreased as income increased across the 3 income levels from 82% to 67% to 45% (P=0.02). 13% reported financial difficulty paying for OAMs; 19% had ≥ $100/mo (0-500) out-of-pocket (OOP) cost. BMQ-N: 20 ± 4 (8-25); BMQ-C: 12 ± 4 (5-24). IPQ: 40 ± 12 (6-71). QOL: BSI 9 ± 8 (0-38); FKSI 43 ± 8 (21-60). No significant difference between adherers and non-adherers in regard to demographic, QOL, OOP costs or belief variables was noted. 29% reported not receiving counseling on taking OAMs. 59% believed mRCC is a chronic disease, 41% believed that their OAM can cure them and strongly agreed or agreed with “I expect to be free of cancer in the future.” 48% reported discussing prognosis with their MD. Conclusions: Self-reported adh to OAMs in mRCC is much better than in other chronic diseases, but not ideal. Surprisingly, adherence was negatively associated with income. Many pts felt mRCC was a chronic disease and over 40% believed they could be cured. Further research is needed addressing the development of an oncology-specific adh tool and defining an optimal adh benchmark for OAMs via prospective studies of self-reported adh, serum drug levels, and outcomes.