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Lunch and Poster Display session

295P - Climate change impact and sustainability: A survey of Breast International Group (BIG) members

Date

16 May 2024

Session

Lunch and Poster Display session

Presenters

Seamus O'Reilly

Citation

Annals of Oncology (2024) 9 (suppl_4): 1-12. 10.1016/esmoop/esmoop103324

Authors

S. O'Reilly1, J. Griffiths2, L. Fox2, C. Weadick3, T. Goulioti4, M.O. Nay5, L. Murphy6, R. O'Leary7, D.A. Cameron8, J. Bliss2

Author affiliations

  • 1 Cancer Trials Ireland and Cork University Hospital, Dublin/IE
  • 2 ICR - Institute of Cancer Research, London/GB
  • 3 CUH - Cork University Hospital, Cork/IE
  • 4 Breast International Group (BIG) - AISBL, 1000 - Brussels/BE
  • 5 Cork University Hospital, Cork/IE
  • 6 Cancer Trials Ireland, Dublin/IE
  • 7 Arup, London/GB
  • 8 Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh/GB

Resources

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Abstract 295P

Background

Healthcare contributes 4-5% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and clinical trials contribute to this. In turn, climate change impacts health outcomes and can disrupt the delivery of cancer care. A survey of climate impacts and climate smart engagement by BIG headquarters (HQ) and member groups was conducted. The survey explored barriers to engagement in sustainability integration and opportunities for developing group-wide initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of clinical research.

Methods

A 30-item online questionnaire was developed assessing climate change impacts, engagement in existing initiatives, obstacles to and facilitators for sustainability integration using binary and Likert scale questions with free text options. The questionnaire was circulated to BIG HQ and Member Groups, respondents stated whether answers related to their function as a coordinating centre(CC)/HQ or representative participating site. Where >1 response was received, the most comprehensive was chosen.

Results

Between Nov 2023 and Feb 2024, 15 responses were received from BIG CC/BIG HQ. Five groups reported trial-related disruption due to climate change in the last 5 years. Ten groups predict sustainability will feature in future funding applications and 12 support consideration of this. The majority of respondents had engagement with sustainability initiatives such as climate charters and champions, partnerships, remote monitoring, training, GHG emission calculation. However, several groups had no engagement in climate change initiatives from their host institution (6), member group (3), or in trial conduct (6). Challenges to the uptake of more sustainable research practice include: time pressure at leadership level (4), financial & resource constraints (4), training & staff attitudes (2) and trial complexity (1).

Conclusions

Climate change has disrupted trial conduct for 1/3rd of BIG member groups globally. Variable degrees of sustainability practices exist among members. Guidance, training, networking and funding would increase the level of engagement, which is expected to be of greater prominence for funders in the future.

Legal entity responsible for the study

The authors.

Funding

Has not received any funding.

Disclosure

S. O'Reilly: Financial Interests, Personal, Other, data monitoring committee membership: AstraZeneca; Financial Interests, Personal, Other, travel expenses: Roche; Financial Interests, Personal, Other, travel: Novartis, nordic pharma; Financial Interests, Personal, Advisory Board, ad board: merck; Financial Interests, Personal and Institutional, Other, funding for educational meetings: Roche; Non-Financial Interests, Member of Board of Directors, member executive board: breast international group; Non-Financial Interests, Advisory Role, advisory board member: irish cancer society; Non-Financial Interests, Leadership Role, clinical lead: cancer trials ireland; Non-Financial Interests, Other, advisory board member: national cancer registry. T. Goulioti: Financial Interests, Personal, Full or part-time Employment, CEO: Breast International Group aisbl; Financial Interests, Institutional, Funding, BIG (my institution) receives funding from AZ for the conduct of the OlympiA trial: AstraZeneca; Financial Interests, Institutional, Funding, BIG receives funding for the conduct of the APHINITY, LORELEI and IMpassion 030/ALEXANDRA trials: Roche/Genentech; Financial Interests, Institutional, Funding, BIG receives funding for the conduct of the BRAVO trial: Tesaro/GSK; Financial Interests, Institutional, Funding, BIG receives funding for the conduct of the ALPHABET and (Neo)ALTTO trials: Novartis; Financial Interests, Institutional, Funding, BIG received/receives funding for the conduct of the PALLAS and PYTHIA trials: Pfizer; Financial Interests, Institutional, Funding, BIG receives funding for the conduct of the AMEERA-6 trial: Sanofi/Aventis; Financial Interests, Institutional, Funding, BIOVICA contribute with a small grant to the PYTHIA trial: BIOVICA; Non-Financial Interests, Institutional, Proprietary Information: All the companies mentioned in the financial interests section also provide access to proprietary information linked to the drugs used for the studies; Non-Financial Interests, Member: ASCO. J. Bliss: Financial Interests, Institutional, Research Grant: AstraZeneca, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Puma Biotechnology, Clovis Oncology, Pfizer, Janssen-Cilag, Novartis, Eli Lilly, Roche. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

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