Challenges and Solutions to Support Oncology Professionals Serving Underserved Populations With Cancer in the United States: Results From the ASCO Serving the Underserved Task Force.

PURPOSE: Little data exist regarding approaches to support oncology professionals who deliver cancer care for underserved populations. In response, ASCO developed the Serving the Underserved Task Force to learn from and support oncology professionals serving underserved populations. METHODS: The Task Force developed a 28-question survey to assess oncology professionals' experiences and strategies to support their work caring for underserved populations. The survey was deployed via an online link to 600 oncology professionals and assessed respondent and patient demographic characteristics, clinic-based processes to coordinate health-related social services, and strategies for professional society support and engagement. We used chi-square tests to evaluate whether there were associations between percent full-time equivalent (FTE) effort serving underserved populations (<50% FTE v ≥50% FTE) with responses. RESULTS: Of 462 respondents who completed the survey (77% response rate), 79 (17.1%) were Asian; 30 (6.5%) Black; 43 (9.3%) Hispanic or Latino/Latina; and 277 (60%) White. The majority (n = 366, 79.2%) had a medical doctor degree (MD). A total of 174 (37.7%) had <25% FTE, 151 (32.7%) had 25%-50% FTE, and 121 (26.2%) had ≥50% FTE effort serving underserved populations. Most best guessed patients' sociodemographic characteristics (n = 388; 84%), while 42 (9.2%) used data collected by the clinic. Social workers coordinated most health-related social services. However, in clinical settings with high proportions of underserved patients, there was greater reliance on nonclinical personnel, such as navigators (odds ratio [OR], 2.15 [95% CI, 1.07 to 4.33]) or no individual (OR, 2.55 [95% CI, 1.14 to 5.72]) for addressing mental health needs and greater reliance on physicians or advance practice practitioners (OR, 2.54 [95% CI, 1.11 to 5.81]) or no individual (OR, 1.91 [95% CI, 1.09 to 3.35]) for addressing childcare or eldercare needs compared with social workers. Prioritization of solutions, which did not differ by FTE effort serving underserved populations, included a return-on-investment model to support personnel, integrated health-related social needs screening, and collaboration with the professional society on advocacy and policy. CONCLUSION: The findings highlight crucial strategies that professional societies can implement to support oncology clinicians serving underserved populations with cancer.

Left ventricular assist device thrombosis in the setting of supratherapeutic international normalized ratio (INR) and bleeding.

A 71-year-old female with heart failure who underwent left ventricular assist device (LVAD) placement presented for evaluation of low hemoglobin and dark stools. She also had leg pain, numbness, and weakness for which she was taking ibuprofen. She was found to have a gastrointestinal bleed, INR of 4.3, and arterial thrombi in the left leg. She was stabilized, had her anticoagulation held, and underwent mechanical thrombectomy. On hospital day 6, LVAD interrogation revealed signs of thrombosis, while subsequent labs revealed a persistently supratherapeutic INR of 5.2. The patient had the LVAD removed and underwent further hematologic workup. Her platelets remained normal throughout the admission, indicating this was not acute disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), or heparin induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). Echocardiography identified it as a primary thrombus. This case illustrates the importance of appropriate anticoagulation to balance the bleeding risk with the risk of thrombi, as well as the importance of maintaining high suspicion for LVAD thrombosis regardless of INR.

Assessing the Needs of Those Who Serve the Underserved: A Qualitative Study among US Oncology Clinicians.

BACKGROUND: The American Society of Clinical Oncology established the 'Supporting Providers Serving the Underserved' (SUS) Task Force with a goal to develop recommendations to support cancer clinicians who deliver care for populations at risk for cancer disparities. As a first step, the Task Force explored barriers and facilitators to equitable cancer care delivery. METHODS: Clinicians across the United States who deliver care predominantly for low-income and racially and ethnically minoritized populations were identified based on lists generated by the Task Force and the Health Equity Committee. Through purposive sampling based on geographical location, clinicians were invited to participate in 30-60 min semi-structured interviews to explore experiences, barriers, and facilitators in their delivery of cancer care. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, imported into qualitative data management software, and analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Thematic analysis revealed three major themes regarding barriers (lack of executive leadership recognition of resources; patient-related socio-economic needs; clinician burnout) and two major themes regarding facilitators (provider commitment, experiential training). CONCLUSIONS: Findings reveal modifiable barriers and potential solutions to facilitate equitable cancer care delivery for populations at risk for cancer disparities.

Breast cancer clinical characteristics and outcomes in Trinidad and Tobago.

Trinidad and Tobago (TT) is the country with the highest breast cancer mortality in the Caribbean. It is unknown whether biological, behavioral, environmental, or clinical factors play a significant role in such outcome. A total of 2,614 incident cases, histologically confirmed and recorded in the TT cancer registries between 1995 and 2005, with follow-up through 2009 were analyzed. Half of the cases were diagnosed between the ages of 40-59 years, 12.5% before the age of 40 years; 45% of women were diagnosed at localized stage and 43.7% were hormone receptor positive. Women diagnosed with distant staging were more likely to undergo chemotherapy compared to those with localized staging (OR 1.39; 95% CI 1.01-1.89). Hormone receptor negative cases were significantly less likely to undergo radiation or surgery therapy (OR 0.66; 95% CI 0.56-0.79 and OR 0.67; 95% CI 0.51-0.88 respectively) compared to those who were hormone receptor positive, but more than 1.5 times as likely to undergo chemotherapy. In multivariate analyses, advanced stage disease and negative hormone receptor status were independently significantly associated with poorer survival outcome. No racial/ethnic differences were observed with respect to treatment or survival. Although access to breast cancer screening and treatment is free in Trinidad and Tobago, breast cancer diagnosis occurs at advanced stages; use of multimodality therapy as a first course of treatment is low.

Heterogeneity of breast cancer clinical characteristics and outcome in US black women--effect of place of birth.

Breast cancer mortality in black women is disproportionately high; reasons for this phenomenon are still unclear. In addition to socioeconomic factors, the biology of the tumor may play a role. We analyzed 1,097 incident invasive breast cancer cases diagnosed between 2000 and 2010 in black US women from Long Island and Brooklyn. Thirty-five percent of women had an estrogen receptor (ER) negative tumor, 46% a progesterone receptor (PR) negative tumor. ER, PR negative tumors were diagnosed at an earlier age (55.8 versus 55.3 years), at a later stage (p = 0.06), were larger in size (p = 0.04), and more frequently treated with neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (p = 0.06) than ER, PR positive tumors. Determinants of shorter survival were: ER, PR negativity (HR: 2.2, 95% CI: 1.4-3.4), age, and stage at diagnosis (HR: 2.0; 95% CI: 1.5-2.7). ER, PR negative breast cancer born outside of the US experienced a significantly worse survival than ER, PR negative women who were born in the US. ER, PR negative tumors in black women born outside the US, mainly in the Caribbean, are biologically more aggressive than the same size and age-matched tumors in black women born in the US. Our study suggests that environmental exposures in the country of origin may impact on host cancer interactions and cancer outcome.