Lung Cancer Care for the Elderly Patients Cannot Be Improved if Patient-Centered Outcome Measures Are Overlooked

SESSION TITLE: Lung Cancer I SESSION TYPE: Original Investigation Poster PRESENTED ON: Saturday, April 16, 2016 at 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM PURPOSE: Over the past ten years, cancer societies and research cooperative groups have urged for the development of cancer trials that address outcome measures that are relevant for the elderly cancer patients. We set out to determine the characteristics and study objectives of the current clinical trials in lung cancer patients. METHODS: The United States Institutes of Health clinical trial registry was researched on 23 April 2015, for currently recruiting phase I, II or III clinical trials in pulmonary malignancies. Trial characteristics and study objectives were extracted from the registry website. RESULTS: Preliminary results In the 433 clinical trials included in this review, patient-centered outcome measures are only investigated in a minority of the included studies. Outcome measures that are of primary importance for the elderly patients, such as quality of life, health care utilization and functional capacity were only included in a small number of trials (19%, 2% and 4% respectively). Treatment completion is included in 2% of the trials. Research goals are mainly progression-free survival time and toxicity, which are investigated in respectively 73% and 78% of the included studies. CONCLUSIONS: Outcome measures that are of primary importance for older patients are still only included in a minority of the currently recruiting clinical trials in pulmonary malignancies. If we do not investigate the patient-centered outcome measures, it is not possible to increase our knowledge of the optimal treatment for this population. The scientific community should participate in taking the steps to improve the delivery of evidence-based, tailor-made and patient-focused cancer care for our rapidly growing elderly patient population. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: If patient-centered outcome measures are overlooked in currently recruiting clinical trials for lung cancer patients, we can not improve lung cancer care, especially for the elderly patients. DISCLOSURE: The following authors have nothing to disclose: Karlijn Schulkes, Cindy Nguyen, Leontine van Elden, Marije E. Hamaker No Product/Research Disclosure Information