Clinical trial enrollment and follow-up visit rates among survivors of childhood cancer.
22 Background: Childhood cancer treatment outcomes have improved substantially with five-year overall survival rates reaching greater than 80%. However, survivors are at increased risk of long-term complications, and long-term follow-up (LTFU) is critical. Distance from a cancer treatment center and increased time from completion of therapy have been associated with decreased LTFU rates. We studied whether lack of enrollment in a therapeutic clinical trial may be an additional barrier to receiving LTFU care. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of 353 patient records at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan enrolled in our Children’s Oncology Group (COG) registry between 1/1/05-12/31/10. All patients were ≤ 25 years of age at diagnosis.Sixty-seven patients were excluded (died prior to follow-up, n = 61; still on therapy, n = 5; insufficient information, n = 1). A total of 286 patient charts were available for analysis after exclusion. One hundred sixty-two (57%) patients were enrolled in a therapeutic clinical trial, and 124 (43%) were enrolled in a biology study alone due to lack of an open therapeutic clinical trial at the time of diagnosis. One hundred eighty-six (65%) patients were < 10 years of age at diagnosis. Results: Follow-up rates at one-, two- and five-years following completion of therapy for patients enrolled in a therapeutic clinical trial were 94.5%, 91.9% and 74%, respectively, compared to 82.9% (p = 0.002), 74% (p < 0.001) and 66% (p = 0.029) for patients not enrolled. The follow-up rate at five-years for patients who were < 10 years of age was 77.5% compared to 70.7% (p = 0.007) for patients > 10 years. There was no significant difference at one- or two-years based on age at diagnosis. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that patients enrolled in a therapeutic clinical trial have significantly superior LTFU rates compared to patients enrolled in biology studies alone. Younger age at diagnosis demonstrated a superior rate at five-years of follow-up. Our findings suggest that additional resources/strategies must be utilized to ensure better LTFU for patients not enrolled in therapeutic clinical trials.