Abstract C45: A patient navigation model to increase rates of lung-directed therapy with curative intent (LDTCI) in African Americans with early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
Background: LDTCI (i.e., surgical resection or stereotactic body radiation therapy [SBRT] in patients who are not surgical candidates]) is the standard of care for patients with early stage NSCLC. Unfortunately, African Americans with early stage, NSCLC are significantly less likely than their European American counterparts to undergo resection. Purpose: This presentation will describe the design of an NIH/NIMHD-funded, NCORP-sponsored, cluster-randomized trial testing the effectiveness of a barriers-focused, protocol-driven patient navigation intervention on increasing rates of LDTCI in African Americans with early stage, probable/proven NSCLC. Design: The trial is currently being conducted at 13 study sites across the United States. The investigators developed an electronic, web-based version of the NIH/NCI Patient Navigation Barrier Checklist. Patient navigators at each intervention site use the electronic Checklist to identify patient barriers to care and guide their interactions with patients. The navigators then enter the data from these interactions into a secure, web-based electronic data management system. Results/Conclusions: Most of the African American patients at the study sites are ineligible for study participation due to advanced stage at diagnosis. Of the 2,529 patients who have been pre-screened for study eligibility to date, only 43 (1.7%) were determined to be African American with likely/proven stage I-II NSCLC. Of this number, 34 (79.1%) were consented for the study, and 29 are currently enrolled. During this presentation, the investigators will present de-identified case examples of barriers experienced by patients and the strategies used by the navigators to overcome these barriers. Plans are underway to add study sites to increase the denominator of potentially eligible participants. Citation Format: Nestor F. Esnaola, Debbie C. Bryant, Kathleen B. Cartmell, Elizabeth Calhoun, Katherine Sterba, Dana R. Burshell, Elizabeth G. Hill, Amy E. Wahlquist, Kendrea D. Knight, Marvella E. Ford. A patient navigation model to increase rates of lung-directed therapy with curative intent (LDTCI) in African Americans with early stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eighth AACR Conference on The Science of Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; Nov 13-16, 2015; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2016;25(3 Suppl):Abstract nr C45.