OTHR-18. IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON CLINICAL TRIAL ENROLLMENT IN THE DEPARTMENT OF PEDIATRIC HEMATOLOGY ONCOLOGY AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE/ST. LOUIS CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL FROM 2017 TO 2023

Abstract

Abstract BACKGROUND COVID-19 had a significant impact on clinical research within the healthcare system worldwide. However, there are only limited reports on its effects on clinical trials in pediatric cancer, specifically in brain tumors. We reviewed the impact of COVID-19 in the Department of Hematology and Oncology in St. Louis Children’s Hospital (SLCH). We analyzed the number of clinical trials open at our center from 2017 to 2023. We hypothesized that in 2020 there would be a significant drop in study participant enrollments at our site overall. METHODS We analyzed data from our online tracking system from 2017 to 2019, pre-pandemic, and 2020-2023, post pandemic. We will also perform a literature review of the impact COVID-19 had on clinical trial enrollment involving childhood cancers in the United States. We will compare these findings to our experience at SLCH. RESULTS In 2020, while non-therapeutic trial enrollments declined to about half of all enrollments compared to 2019, enrollments in therapeutic trials significantly increased to almost three-fold. Overall, when combining non-therapeutic and therapeutic enrollments from 2017-2020, there was a significant decrease in 2020. By 2023, total enrollments nearly recovered to pre-pandemic levels. CONCLUSIONS COVID-19 negatively impacted non-therapeutic studies at SLCH as many trials permanently closed; however, the negative effect on therapeutic studies was minimal.