Impact of financial burden on information and opportunity for cancer (ca) patients' (pts) participation (par) in clinical trials (cts).

Abstract

166 Background: The degree to which cancer caused financial problems may influence ca pts par in cts and negatively impact quality of life (QoL). Financial burden of cts par, may include finding an appropriate trial, traveling to the trial site, paying for travel, lodging and some medical expenses. The Lazarex Cancer Foundation (LCF) was founded in 2006 with mission to improve care, giving hope, dignity, and life to advanced ca pts by providing assistance with options and costs to cts par, community outreach, and education. LCF developed processes to removing the barriers to cts par by improving equitable access to cancer care, increasing cts enrollment, retention and minority par, and increasing cts referrals. Methods: To determine the extent of benefit of LCF, we conducted a retrospective analysis of LCF beneficiaries participating in cts by reviewing and summarizing the #pts, states and countries of residence, age, type of cancer, location and distance to cts site, type of assistance, and #of advocacy/outreach. Results: From 1/01/2010 – 12/31/2015 1479 pts were assisted; age range 4-86 yrs, median 50-60; 638(43%) male, 790 (53%) female, 51 (3.4%) undeclared. 434 did not give racial/ethnic identity; of 1045, 67 (6.4%) were African American, 108 (10.3%) Hispanic, 38 (3.6) Asian Pacific Islander, other 22 (2.1), and Caucasian 760 (72.7%) –total minority 235 (22.5%). Pts resided in 49 states with largest CA-280, TX-131, MA-119, FL-81. Cts were at 115 sites; 38 NCI CCC, 8 NCI DCC. The most common diagnoses were breast-116, leukemia-87, colorectal-48 and many rare type tumors. The median household income was $75,000. Financial assistance to travel to and living expenses at the cts site was the most frequently identified need. Conclusions: Relieving pts of financial burden allows greater access to and participation in cancer clinical trials. Further research and greater resources are needed to define the patient needs and determine methods to eliminate and remove barriers to enrollment and retention. Future research should investigate coverage thresholds that minimize adverse financial outcomes and identify ca pts at greatest risk for financial toxicity to increase par in cts and enhance QoL.