Purpose Employment provides psychological and financial benefits. In this secondary analysis of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group- American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ECOG-ACRIN) EAQ162CD study results, we assessed longitudinal changes in employment and work productivity among individuals with stage I–III colorectal cancer and their association with financial hardship.Methods Adults with newly diagnosed stage I–III colorectal cancer treated with curative intent (2018–2020) were surveyed at enrollment, 3, 6, and 12 months. Employment, productivity, and work impairment were measured. Financial hardship was measured using the Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity (COST). Longitudinal associations were analyzed using multivariable models.Results Among 280 participants (mean age 55.5; 56.1% [157/280] male) 16.4% (46/280) reported decreased employment at enrollment vs. 4.2% (4/96) at 12 months; employment increases rose from 1.4% (4/280) at enrollment vs. 9.4% (9/96) at 12 months. Higher COST scores (lower hardship) were associated with lower odds of employment change. Among 202 participants employed at enrollment, median work missed declined from 21.9% at enrollment to 0% at follow-up. Physical work ability improved, while mental work ability transiently declined. Employment disruption occurred early, but improved over time.Conclusions These findings highlight the importance of early identification and support for individuals experiencing employment disruption and financial hardship during cancer treatment.
Background Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are commonly used in research, and when applied at the point of care can support systematic identification of treatment impacts and timely intervention.Aim To understand more about PROM use in pediatric oncology in Australia.Method An online survey of Australian pediatric oncology healthcare providers (HCPs) was conducted using purposive and snowball sampling via oncology practice groups.Results Forty-five HCPs completed the survey (57.8% from New South Wales); 38 (83%) reported using PROMs. Among PROM users, 55.3% used them for research and 52.6% to guide clinical care. PROMs were most commonly used by Allied Health (36.8%), followed by Medical (23.7%) and nursing (21.1%) professionals. Administration occurred via paper (47%), electronically (26%), or both (11%). Integration into medical records occurred in 26.3% of cases. Among PROM users, 18.4% felt uncertain about using or responding to PROMs. Among non-users, key barriers were lack of suitable PROMs (85.7%) and insufficient training (42.9%). Common reasons for using PROMs included symptom screening, identifying unmet needs, and improving patient satisfaction.Conclusions PROM use for clinical practice and research purposes was high in this sample. Despite strong perceived benefits by participants, challenges related to accessibility training limited broader implementation.
This letter responds to Beckmann et al.’s co-design article on improving sexual wellbeing support after prostate cancer. The study offers a timely and patient-centred contribution to survivorship care. Its strengths include mixed-methods evidence synthesis, consumer involvement, and practical recommendations. However, several issues require further attention, including limited partner representation, modest stakeholder diversity, weak implementation detail, and limited discussion of equity across sexuality, culture, rurality, and private care. Future work should test feasibility, cost, and measurable outcomes.
Background Variation in conceptualization and measurement of financial consequences of cancer treatment poses issues for analysis and interpretation.Aims This scoping review characterized terms, conceptualizations, and measures used to describe financial experiences of post-treatment cancer survivors.Methods Reported according to PRISMA-ScR guidelines, searches for published literature on financial experiences were conducted using Medline (Ovid), Embase.com (Elsevier), Core Collection (Web of Science), Cochrane Central (Ovid), and ClinicalTrials.gov in February 2026. U.S.-based empirical studies with adult (≥18 years) cancer survivors (≥6 months post-treatment) were eligible.Results 5901 titles and abstracts were double screened for eligibility, yielding 623 for full text review; 125 met criteria for data extraction. We identified 11 terms and 58 measures. Financial hardship and burden were most prevalent, often used interchangeably. Financial toxicity described the impact of cancer-related financial consequences on quality of life. Financial stress/distress and financial worry described psychological aspects of financial hardship/burden, whereas financial problems, strain, difficulty, and economic burden described material and behavioral domains. Common measures included the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (N = 24), the National Health Interview Survey (N = 24), and the COmprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity (N = 23).Conclusions Future work should look to consolidate the terms, their definitions, and measurement of the financial experiences.
