Although treatment advances have improved survival and quality of life among patients with blood cancers, these patients often face significant financial costs. A study presented at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting exmined the impact of these financial difficulties.

Rena M Conti, PhD, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, and colleagues conducted an observational, prospective survey in 2019-2020 to estimate the self-reported prevalence of financial difficulty among multiple myeloma (MM) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients and identify sociodemographic correlates of financial difficulty. The study recruited patients with a MM or CLL diagnosis aged ≥ 18 years from NCI NCORP sites of care. Financial difficulty was measured in a previously validated single question from the EORTC QLQ C30 and a composite measure of five questions from the EORTC QLQ C30.

A total of 521 MM and CLL patients were registered to the study; 416 patients were administered all or part of the patient survey, for an overall response rate of 79.8%. Of these, 16.8% ts reported experiencing financial difficulty in response to the single item question, and more than half (58.6%) reported experiencing financial difficulty in response to the composite measure. Respondents claiming financial difficulty to both measures reported household incomes <$60,000, identified their highest education levels as a high school diploma or GED, had >1 medical comorbidity and used an oral chemotherapeutic agent to treat their blood cancer.

“Blood cancer patients treated at NCI NCORP sites are experiencing financial difficulties. Results of this study aim to inform physician, site of care and policy efforts to improve access among cancer patients,” wrote Dr Conti and colleagues.

Source:

Conti RA. Self-reported financial difficulties among patients with multiple myeloma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia: An Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology study. Abstract presented at: ASCO Annual Meeting; June 3-7, 2022; Chicago, IL, and virtual. Abstract 6602.